


Fool Me Once - Fool Me Twice

by SunnyDazeSweepinCloudsAway



Category: Suicide Squad (2016)
Genre: F/M, Post-Suicide Squad (2016)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-28 14:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18209609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunnyDazeSweepinCloudsAway/pseuds/SunnyDazeSweepinCloudsAway
Summary: Joker and his gang stumble across a new and small criminal who ruined their heist and stole their loot. Turns out, it's a girl out on the run who's just trying to make ends meet and get into a good college. The Joker has a few tricks up his sleeves for this one, now it's up to her to make the right choices.





	1. The Start of Something New

Fool Me Once…Fool Me Twice

Chapter 1: The Start of Something New

* * *

 

“And in other news,” Kit King’s voice said from the TV, “jewelry store owners beware! _Royalty Gems_ was broken into early this morning. The owner, Gregory Smith, told Channel Eight News that their security system was just installed this week, but none of the alarms went off.” I watched her flip through her notes for a moment, collecting her thoughts, before going on, “All of the gems from the Fire and Water collection are missing. Mr. Smith is offering a reward for the return of these priceless stones.”

I took the remote off the table and clicked off the television, slumping back into the old couch, shaking my head. “Well, guess I know where I’m going tomorrow.” I mumbled to myself. Not that I was ungrateful for what I ended up taking, and what I would get back. But now I wished I had more guts to take all of it.

 

000

 

It happened early in the morning, just like that Kit King said. At one in the morning, and I was in my usual get up for a heist. All black from head to toe with my hair tucked underneath my hood. A black backpack held all of my equipment: a few spy cameras, a couple tools to help me bug the security system, and a new spray that could help show any invisible lasers that might be surrounding displays. This was not my first rodeo, it was number sixteen to be exact. For _Royalty Gems_ , yes. It just opened at the end of September, so there hadn’t been any incidents with this store. But I considered myself an expert with jewelry stores. They were all set up the same way with the same security systems and displays for the jewelry. They all also gave the same amount of rewards for their diamonds.

That night, however, I was going for rubies and sapphires. They were worth more in general, so their reward would be much higher in theory. I made my way into the back ally and used a bobby pin to unlock the old door easily. When no alarms went off, showing that my bugs on the keypad did their job, I crept in quickly and quietly, going to the display in the front of the store. Right there, not even covered with a glass box was the stores shining star. The red and blue stones were shinning from the display’s lights and I went for it with a racing heart.

Sadly, that seemed to be the end of my good luck.

After counting five of each and figuring out what kind of reward I would get for each, I heard a loud and expensive car pull up to the front of the store. I took my bag and ducked behind the counter, clutching the stones to my chest. My heart rate picked up once I heard glass break, and let out a breath when no alarms went off. Whoever it was, they were going crazy with all of the displays at the front and left side of the store, laughing like crazy when they would get their hands on a nice piece.

Feeling brave, I peeked out from behind the counter on my hands and knees. There were about six men in black suits with white suit shirts and bandanas around their mouths. It seemed like a normal robbery until I caught the view of the two most infamous criminals in Gotham city. Her platinum blonde hair with blue and pink tips were up in pigtails, ears were pierced in multiple places, her makeup was smeared a little, fishnet tights were underneath the red and blue short-shorts, a matching leather jacket was on top of her worn looking graphic tee and her choker said ‘puddin’. His shoes were so shiny the light bounced off of them, his pants were crisp and had a gold chain from the right pocket, his tattoos were on full display underneath his leather purple jacket, gold chains were around his neck and rings on his hands, his face white as soon and hair emerald green.

Yes, it was the Joker and Harley Quinn. I thought I was going to vomit from how anxious I got when I ducked back behind the counter. There were only two exits in this store, and my best bet would be to go out the way I came in. As quiet as I could, I unzipped the smallest pocket in my bag and carefully placed the gems inside, then slung the heavy bag on my back. 

“Oh Puddin’!” I heard the infamous woman squealed, “These look amazing! They’re so shiny and will look great for a necklace! Whatcha think?!”

I heard the clown king of crime low whistle, “’Course they would Harls.” He answered in a skeptical tone of voice, “But, it’d look even better with _all_ of the stones.” The Joker growled, slamming his fist down on the counter, which made me jump. I clasped my hand over my mouth to keep from gasping and decided I need to get out of here now, “Someone’s been here. Boys, search the area. Let’s find that _mouse_ and get my lady’s gems back.” He snarled. 

As quickly as I could without making a sound, I got back onto my hands and knees and began crawling to the back room. I knew that once I got back there, I’d be able to run fast enough to make it out without being caught.

Freedom seemed too close for comfort because I heard a feminine sounding voice gasp loudly from behind the counter when I was a foot away from the back room. “Oh lookie here! I think we’ve gotta runner!” She sang, a laugh of excitement following.

That was enough to get me to change my mind and jump up from my position to start running. I heard the crazy criminal bark at his boys to come after me when I was out in the hall, but I didn’t dare to look back. My adrenaline was my fuel and causing me to sprint faster than I ever had in my life. Once I got onto the street, I heard the expensive car from before pulling onto the same street and start flying in my direction. 

An ally was my savor that night, and the chain-link fence its loyal steed. That’s when I lost the goons, none of them being able to jump the fence and the car couldn’t make it through the ally because of it either. I knew that they would still try and block me on the other side of the ally, but I made it to the subway before anyone could catch me again. The 1:45 train pulled in right on time, and I jumped the turnstile to make it with the rest of the early morning crowd. The subway pulled away and I could finally catch my breath.

 

000

 

I finally mustered up enough energy to pull myself up off the old blue couch and order some dinner from the Chinese place a few blocks away. I live in a rough neighborhood, so I needed the delivery guy to call me once he got here so that I could pick up the orange chicken at the door instead of letting them into the building.

My grandparents always wanted to move out of this neighborhood, but it would never happen with the income either of them made. We were lucky to live where we did in this part of Gotham. It was a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment above a small coffee shop. It was at the top of the building and the people downstairs used the fire escape for their plants. A ten-minute walk would get me to my high school, P.S. 148. The cities nice park was a subway ride away. The grocery store was owned by an Italian family who also has a pizza shop. And, of course, the _Smile and Grin_ was only three blocks away.

The family room and kitchen flow together, with no wall splitting them up. The kitchen is pretty small, with just enough room for two people to be making the meal together. A small round table with three chairs was round it. The family room had a tiny TV in the corner with an old couch and lazy boy in front of it. The upright piano was pushed against the window and had a couple family pictures on top of it, along with some sheet music and a vase of fake orchids. As of right now, it became the planning room for heists. My equipment for these jobs were all around the room, taking up the space on the ground because there wasn’t enough on the table. The one bathroom was off of the family room. It was nothing special and sometimes had leaks coming from the shower and sink. The mirror could also use a good dusting, but I didn’t really find it a necessity.

My bedroom faced the main street. I could see the clubs to my left and the restaurants to my right. It had boring white walls, with some white Christmas lights strung up. A tiny twin bed with a floral quilt was pushed into the corner, the bed always made after it was slept in. There was a window seat with a few cushions on top and a basket of books underneath. There were also my Polaroid pictures taped behind the door; people, places, still life. You name it, and there was probably a picture of it.

I took the bunny shaped coin bank off the dresser and began to count the money inside. This stash was only my spending money, while the bills cash was under my grandparent’s mattress and my college savings are in the freezer inside an empty ice cream container. After counting out the right amount, the cork was replaced and I set the cash out on the kitchen table.

As soon as the money touched the wooden table, there was an aggressive knock on the door. Biting my lip, thinking that I might not have told them to call me when they were here so the delivery man did come up, I grabbed the cash again and went to the door. On my tiptoes, I peeped through the peep hole to see who it was.

It was just two men in suits, looking like they could’ve been detectives or lawyers or something important. After stuffing the cash into my hoodie’s pocket, I opened the door with the chain lock still in place and showed a tiny bit of my face to them. “Um…Can I help you?” I asked quietly.

“Mista J is here to see ya.” One of them answered in a gruff tone of voice.

I raised my eyebrow, confused about who he would be talking about. “I-I’m sorry, but I don’t know a Mr. J.” I stammered, “Y-you must have the wrong apartment.” I suggested.

A familiar and chilling laugh filled the hallway, which caused my eyes to widen in surprise. Up stepped the Joker, dressed the same exact way as Saturday, and with a gun in his hand this time. “C’mon,” he purred as he came right up to the door’s crack, “we just wanna talk to ya!”

There was a laugh at the end of the statement and I shut the door quickly to unlock it. The voice in the back of my mind wished that I would’ve kept it locked, grabbed a phone to call the police, and jump out the fire escape to make a break for it. Unfortunately, if anyone came into the apartment at this point, I’d be in just as much trouble with all of the cash hidden around.

The second the door was unlocked it swung open and I was grabbed roughly by the two men in suits. I couldn’t struggle in their strong grips and before I knew it, I was handcuffed to the chair I was sat down in. The Joker made himself comfortable in my grandpa’s lazy boy, crossing his legs and placing his hands comfortably behind his head. The other men were going through all of the things in the family room, dumping contents onto the ground and making a mess.

“So,” The infamous criminal began, making me tear my eyes away from the guys making a mess and to the tattooed man, “you’re the one who took the rest of Harley’s gems.” The Joker said, looking me over. In my opinion, I was nothing special; light brown and shoulder length hair, hazel eyes, only about five-four on a good day. Just your average high school student.

 All I could do was nod to him for an answer, my heart rate picking up quickly. He made a tutting sound in response, shaking his head in a disappointing way. “Well, my Harls needs ‘em all.” The clown explained, standing up and coming to take a place in the chair right next to mine. He got really close to my face, and I leaned back in my chair to try and tell him to back off, “And my girl _always_ gets what she wants.”

 I scanned the man in front of me over. His eyes looked serious, like a man on a mission. But from all the stories that the news and others have said about him, I knew that there was something other than just the jewels that he wanted. Then I thought about my own situation. On the one hand, these rubies and sapphires would really help me out with my money stash going on once I get the reward. On the other hand, this was the most dangerous criminal in the city, “Th-they’re yours.” I stuttered after a moment. His wild smile grew and he clasped his hands together, “I’ll grab them if you just uncuff me.”

 With a snap of his fingers, the man with the beard came to uncuff me from the table. He wasn’t too gentle and I rubbed my wrists to get the small marks to fade. “Frost, follow the girl. I don’t want any…funny business.” The Joker explained, sending me a glare.

 The man, Frost, stuck to his word and followed me into my bedroom, leaving only two feet between us. I kept the gems where I keep all the jewels I take, in my grandmother’s old jewelry box. It was small, gold with painted green flowers, and played a familiar lullaby when it opened. This time was no different, the twinkling melody filling the room for as long as it took me to grab the gems and close the box. Frost didn’t say a word and I walked past him to get back into the kitchen and to the criminal.

 At this point, the other man was flipping through one of my textbooks while the Joker was holding a framed picture from the top of the piano in his hands. “H-here.” I said, holding out my hand for him to take them from me. I thought he set the picture down, but he handed it to Frost before grabbing the small stones from my hand, “All ten of them in mint condition.” The Joker needed to check for himself, and he took his time. After each one passed his inspection, they were put into his breast pocket.

 When the last one passed his tests, he looked me dead in the eyes and gripped my shoulders to make sure that I wouldn’t try and get away. “This better not happen again.” He cautioned, “Because if I so much as see you plan another one of these, there’s going to be a much larger consequence than coming to get what’s mine.”

 I nodded quickly, not wanting to anger him anymore than he seemed. “I-I understand.” I said, “I didn’t m-mean to be any trouble in the first place. And y-you won’t see me at _Royalty Gems_ ever again.”

His hands slapped my checks, squishing me together when he did so, once I was done and the smile was back on his face. “That’s what I like to hear!” The Joker laughed, finally letting go of me. “Boys, we’re outta here. I gotta get these gems back to my lady.”

And with that, they were gone. I held out my hand to take the picture back from the bearded man before he left, whispering my thanks once the precious picture was in my hands. The only trace of anyone other than myself being in the apartment was the mess they left behind in my family room.

* * *

 

I never thought I’d deal with the Joker after he came into my home, but I was wrong when I found a green envelope on my kitchen floor the next week. I had just gotten back to my apartment from the library, stopping at the deli to pick up a sandwich for dinner, around seven when I stepped on it after walking in. It looked like it was pushed under the door and I was scared to open it at first, fear that poison dust or something could be inside of it. But, after holding it under a flashlight and confirming that a folded-up paper was the only thing inside, I opened it.

The handwriting was actually pretty legible, and written on white computer paper. There were some light stains on it as well: ink, a drink, maybe lipstick, and a couple questionable looking ones. It read:

            **You know where to find me, and I know where to find you. There needs to be a serious discussion in regards to your future. Your life. We can make this easy, or we can have some fun. It’s up to you. Show this to the bouncers out front to be let in. Come at midnight, I don’t like to be kept waiting.**

**Mr. J**

 I had to read the short note over a couple times to make sure that I read everything correctly. My mind was spinning while I read. I didn’t do anything wrong this whole week, not even looking up anything in regards to my next job, so I was confused on why he wanted to talk. Secondly, I knew that he was serious about making this ‘fun’, so I had to think about this carefully.

After the third time reading the note, I decided to try and find some courage and go. Somehow, I managed to eat the Italian sub without my nerves making me vomit, and find clothes to wear over. After tying my hair into a tight bun to keep it out of my face, I got dressed into something that I would wear to school: a Gotham University t-shirt, a large jean jacket, black jeans, and black high tops. As a last-minute thought, I also packed my backpack. I didn’t like to walk around the city without some kind of bag, and I wasn’t much of a purse girl. While the yellow backpack made me stick out, it was almost like a security blanket.

The time seemed to be slow while I waited to go, and my confidence didn’t seem to be getting any better. I tried everything I could think of to help; took some deep breaths, paced around the family room, played some scales on the piano, even stood in the ‘wonder woman’ pose for ten minutes in front of the bathroom’s mirror.

Finally, around 11:45, I gripped the straps of the bag and headed out. The walk wasn’t anything special, and it didn’t seem like anyone was out on the streets tonight anyways. I could hear the club’s music about a block away and the lights were bouncing off the building’s walls when I crossed the street.

There was a long line once I got there, and I was nervous this would make me late if I stood and waited. It was out of character for me to break simple rules like this, but I did cut the line so that I could be on time. The young adults in line shouted rude insults my way, throwing in some curses for good judgement. Both of the six-foot-five bouncers at the front looked confused to see me there, and I didn’t blame them. “Uhh…” I mumbled, holding out my letter to them.

I watched them both read it together, and the one with a curly mustache handed it back to me. “Mack will take you up.” He said, gesturing to his friend. The one named Mack had a shaved head and lots of tattoos on his arms. Wordlessly, he led me into the club. I grabbed the straps tightly and tried to stay close to the man while he weaved through the crowd.

This was my first time in a club, being a minor, and I could tell that I did not enjoy it at all. There were so many people inside, and a lot of them were on the dance floor dancing. Well, more like grinding on top of each other to the beat of the song, but I guess it could be dancing. I could see girls inside cages, dancing alone with very little clothes on. One of them I recognized as Harley Quinn. She had her hair down and curled today, and was wearing a black and gold sequined dress with a diamond pattern and open back. A few older looking men were sitting at the bar or a few tables just watching the caged women dance, which to me was a little creepy. During this, I just tried not to draw any attention to myself, knowing that I was here for the Joker’s talk and that’s all.

We took a set of spiral stairs up to a room and I was let inside first. There were red velvet curtains drawn over what looked like a large viewing window, which caused the room to be dark. The lighting was dim, but I could still see no one was in there. But, I was thankful that the music was muffled behind the closed door. “Have a seat there.” Mack instructed, pointing to a leather couch, “Mr. J will be here soon.” He said, waiting for me to sit before leaving the room with a slam of the door.

I was gripping my backpack to my chest while I sat there, trying to calm down and get some confidence before this meeting would start. I took this time to take in the room. The furniture was all black leather: the couches, the chairs, even the ottoman. There was a large, dark wood desk with a leather office chair behind it opposite to the door, and it was covered with papers and a large green lamp.

The door slamming open and hitting the wall is what caused me to jump in my seat. It was Harley Quinn and the Joker, both of them laughing at my reaction to them opening the door. My eyes watched the infamous duo make their way to the desk across from me, with the Joker taking a seat in the office chair and the blonde woman making herself comfortable in his lap. I could see that Harley was inspecting me from her spot, squinting her eyes and turning to the man who’s lap she was sitting on, “No offense, but you don’t look anything like a criminal, kid.” She finally said, breaking the silence.

I tilted my head in confusion, looking between the two of them. She took that chance to climb over the desk and come right up to my face. And just like the Joker last week, she squished my cheeks in her hands. The only difference is that she giggled and cooed at me while she did so. “Oh, Puddin’, she’s such a doll! Look at her Mista J!” Harley gushed, letting go of me and sitting uncomfortably close to me on the couch.

“She’s an interesting one.” The Joker agreed, looking me in the eyes, “Aren’t you, Miss. Mulligan?”

My eyes widened in shock and I could feel my jaw drop. That caused both of them to laugh and I felt my face heat up. “H-how did you-“

“Know your name?” he finished my sentence, opening a drawer in his desk. In his hands was a handsewn project made by my Grandma Alice. It was on white background and the thread was baby pink. My full name was sewn on it, along with my birthday. He threw it back to me across his desk and picked up some papers, “Bernadette Dawn Mulligan isn’t a very common name. Especially in Gotham. After a few searches, I got most of what I needed.”

The Joker stood from his desk and came to stand closer, leaning on his desk. The papers in his hands were given to me and I saw my elementary, middle, and high school files. “P.S. 148, huh?” He said, “Home of the bulldogs, a shitty football team, and it seems like you’re usually an A student, aren’t you?”

I didn’t even know where to start. And because I didn’t answer, he kept going with his information that he found. “And it seems like there’s no adult supervision in that apartment.” The Joker continued, grabbing the next stack of papers “I had some boys check out your apartment this week.” He clarified, throwing some pictures of the apartment my way. Sure enough, I looked like phone quality pictures of the apartment were taken at a couple different times of the day, “Which would lead me to assume that a Seamus Mulligan at Martha Wayne Hospital is related to you.” My eyes widened, and I knew that he got out of me what he wanted. “Your old man is super old.”

“He’s my grandfather.” I clarified quickly, not wanting anyone getting the wrong idea, “And if you hurt him-” The Joker’s laugh cut me off. I was scared about him easily finding all this stuff by just knowing my name, and I was kicking myself for keeping that project out on my dresser. Of course, when Frost followed me in, he snagged it for himself. “L-look sir,” I started, looking up from the papers and sitting up a little straighter, “I-I didn’t think I d-did anything wrong!” I stuttered, trying to explain myself, “I haven’t looked up anything else, I haven’t stolen anything, and just stayed to myself. I promise, I’m not trying to get into trouble, sir.” I counted these facts on my fingers to try and make my point clear.

He held up a hand, indicating that he wanted to say something, and I was hoping that he was getting to the point of this meeting because I was getting more and more scared. “You’re a weird one, I’ll give you that.” The Joker began, “Manages to rob and return over a million dollars’ worth of jewels without getting caught by the authorities, seems to be able to do quick research and break into top-notch security systems without anyone knowing you’re there, and still keep great grades in school.”

The criminal duo seemed to exchange some kind of silent code because Harley got up and went to stand next to the Joker, and he wrapped an arm around her slim waist to pull her close, “I can’t have you getting in my way, and I’m still not finished with you. So, I’m offering you a job.” He paused, giving me a moment to take in what he said, “I’m in need of a new…help…with research. I like to keep a good eye on my investments, and I think you’ll be of good value to me, and what’s a better way than having an investment stay right where I have easy access to them?”

“And we’ll take extra good care of you doll!” Harley chimed in, “There’s a nice pool and jacuzzi! Oh, and Mr. J just hired a new chef that makes great meatloaf!” She gushed, “And I’m sure we can find you some new clothes and get your hair fixed up for you!”

I looked between to two of them. One seemed to need more for my skills, and the other for entertainment. “And…and if I don’t want to?” I asked timidly, biting my lip to try and stop my trembling.

The Joker seemed to start his chilling laugher at that question, and Harley joined in too. “Then you’ll be ‘taken care of’ on the next little thieving jaunt you decide to pursue.”

A ginormous pit began forming in my stomach. In reality, I did have a choice here. This was the most infamous couple in the whole city, offering me a job and a place to stay with them. Or, telling me that my life would be over if I continued doing these heists.

With a deep sigh, I nodded my head quickly. “I-I’ll do it.” I whispered, looking the clown dead in the eye.

A squeal and “Yippie!” came from Harley while the Joker had a huge grin on his face while he clasped his hands together in satisfaction. The blonde lady came over and lifted me into a hug, spinning me around, “This is gonna be great! You made a great choice Bernadette!”

“Yes, she did Harls.” The Joker agreed, coming to us with a hankie in his hand, “And now girls, it’s time to head home.”

Before I could process what was happening, the handkerchief was placed over my face and I realized that it was drenched with some kind of chemical. I didn’t have a choice but to breathe it in, and could instantly feel my body sag. The two of them gripped me tightly once I slummed over and that’s when my eyes fell shut.

Their laughter was the last thing I remembered.


	2. I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here

Fool Me Once…Fool Me Twice

Chapter 2: I Think (more like hope) I’m Gonna Like It Here

* * *

 

My eyes hurt when I opened them, feeling much more dry than usual. I assumed that it was the contacts that I didn’t get to take out that were causing the problem. However, once I rubbed my eyes a couple of times and saw that I wasn’t in my usual bed, the memories from last night flooded back in. “Whatever that hankie was drenched in really knocked me out.” I mumbled, shaking my head to try and clear it.

The Joker and Harley didn’t necessarily kidnap me, I thought trying to give them the benefit of doubt, but I had absolutely no idea where I was. The room I was in reminded me of a five-star hotel room. The walls were cream, and the trim was white, but there was nothing hanging on them. A large window covered a whole wall, with floral curtains to close them. From my place on the bed, I could see that the view was uptown part of the city, including the park. A simple white desk with a purple upholstered chair was in front of the window. There was a violet chandelier lamp on the left corner and my backpack was on top of it.

On the opposite wall was a white wooden vanity. The mirror looked like it folded into three pieces, and had floral decals on the wood. There was also a small, furry white vanity stool underneath. A closet was next to it, and the sliding door was open. There were no clothes inside, not even any hangers. The bed I was laying in was ginormous – a full for sure. It had a matching bedframe with the vanity, with the flowers carved in and everything. There were so many white pillows on the bed, I didn’t know how I slept fine. A light purple, floral patterned comforter was what I was laying on top of and man it was soft. A nightstand was on the left side of the bed, and the digital alarm clock told me it was two in the afternoon on Sunday.

I noticed that my shoes were off of my feet, and so was my jean jacket. Both of them were at the foot of my bed, and I also noticed that my phone was missing. While I was moving pillows in order to look for the phone, I heard the door swing open. I must’ve squeaked in surprise because the person who walked into the room was giggling in a high pitch. “Mornin’ Bernadette!” Harley smiled, holding some clothes in her arms.

Once I realized who it was, I calmed down a bit. “Oh, good morning Harley.” I said politely, “And, uh, you can call me Bernie.” I insisted.

Her smile grew and she came to sit on the stool at the vanity. “Bernie, how cute!” Harley said, “I’m glad you finally woke up. That mix must’ve been a _little_ too heavy for someone as tiny as yourself.”

“Do you always do that?” I asked, genuinely curious.

She shrugged, “We couldn’t let you know where the penthouse is Bern.” Harley explained, “But I’m sure Mista J won’t have you under every time.” I tried not to react to the shortened version of my nickname. “I brought you some clothes to change into!” She smiled, holding out the clothes for me to see. The shirt was a silk, burgundy men’s dress shirt. The pants were charcoal grey sweatpants with the word ARKHAM in white print.

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that.” I said, taking the clothes from her.

Harley nodded her head, a serious look on her face. “Yes, we did.” She said bluntly, “Your clothes could still have droplets of that chemical on them, and we can’t take the risk of the chemical entering anyone’s systems by accident.”

I thought that was a good enough reason. “Okay. Well, thanks Harley.” I stood up from the bed and thought that she would leave, but she just kept staring at me. “Umm…C-can I get some privacy?” I asked, unsure about why she wasn’t leaving.

“Sure!” The blonde woman laughed. I sighed in relief when I thought she was going to get up and leave, I shook my head once I saw that all she was going to do was turn around and face the wall.

A blush formed on my cheeks as I became embarrassed and self-conscious. I never liked my body, the tiny flaws that I spot in front of a mirror add up to leave a big scar in my mind. Plus, I was nothing compared to Harley Quinn. She was gorgeous, and she knew it. While I changed quickly, I could hear her hum a tune with a grin on her face.

I cleared my throat to tell her I was done getting dressed, only leaving the top button undone. Harley turned around and came to grab my clothes from where I folded them on the bed. “I’ll show you where the laundry chute on our way down for brunch. Mista J is waitin’ for us.” She stuffed the clothes under her arm and came to unbutton another two buttons on the shirt, which made me uncomfortable. Once she turned around, I buttoned one of them back up.

With that, I followed one half of the infamous duo out of that room in my borrowed clothes. The chute was outside of the bathroom, a silver slot for the clothes to slide down. “I can show you the rest of the place once we’re done with brunch!” Harley said, taking my hand and leading to the glass staircase. Just from walking around the short amount so far, I could see that the style was pretty…eccentric. Expensive looking abstract paintings were on the eggplant colored walls.

At the bottom of the staircase were two growling creatures. After a moment, I could tell that they were hyenas. Freaking HYENAS! I couldn’t help but squeeze Harley’s hand in fright and I ducked behind her. “Aw, don’t be scared of Bud and Lou!” The blonde woman said, pulling me from behind her, “They’re sweeties! They just need to get to know you a little better.” A whistle from Quinn caused them to scatter, going into a different room completely.

We walked through what I assumed was the family room. It had a lot of large couches and some reclining chairs, but was an absolute mess. Papers, pillows, garbage: all of it was thrown around the room. There was also a white, grand piano in the corner that, thankfully, looked untouched. “Fran comes around three to clean the place.” Harley said when she must have noticed me taking in the mess.

Going through a set of French doors, Harley led me into the dining room. It was a long room, with a ten-person rectangular table in the center. The glass table was spotless and most of the plush looking chairs were occupied. The people there already looked like they worked for the Joker, and I only recognized one of them, the one they called Frost. There were two open seats by the head of the table, where the Joker sat, and that’s were Harley dragged me to. She placed a kiss on the man’s cheek before taking the seat next to him. I assumed that I got the last empty chair next to her.

The others in the room were already working on their breakfasts. None of them seemed to have too much manners other than the bearded man and the Joker. I could feel my heart begin to race while I sat there and saw all of the judging eyes on me.

Harley placed a plate full of food in front of me with a smile. There was a stack of pancakes with berries for eyes and a piece of bacon for a smile. “Boys, this is Bernie.” She introduced, filling her own plate with some food, “She’s workin’ with Mista J and I for a while.”

I gave them all a shy smile. The new information didn’t seem to change too much, because they were still glaring at me. “Bernie, you can go to them for anythin’ if we’re not here, hon.” Harley said, giving me a reassuring smile, “Go to me and Mista J first, then to Frost, and then the rest of the boys.” I quietly nodded to her, showing that I understood.

My eyes followed her hands as I watched her cut into her own pancakes. The pit in my stomach was growing and the eyes watching me wasn’t helping. “Aren’t you gonna eat Bern?” Harley asked, pointing to my plate with her fork.

“Y-Yeah,” I stuttered, quickly picking up my own utensils, “I am.”

The pancakes cut great and I could see that they were super fluffy. After one bite, I could tell that whoever made these knew their way around a kitchen. My eyes were wide with how good they were and I heard a familiar giggle next to me. “Arnie makes a great brunch.” She smiled, pinching my cheek, “Right, Puddin’?” The blonde woman asked.

He grunted in response, not looking up from a stack of papers to his right. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stomach a lot of the breakfast in front of me, but I would try. After flipping through the stack of papers next to him quickly, the Joker began speaking to the rest of the table. Mainly the henchmen. It wasn’t anything I thought I’d be involved in: business meetings with a couple gangs in Gotham, plans for expanding the _Smile and Grin_ , and going over some numbers. A few of them would verbally respond here and there, but most of the answers were nods.

“Then we have Bernie.” The Joker said, causing me to look up from my plate and in his direction, “Since Joe’s incident with sharing his research with family, he’ll no long be working for us.” I didn’t think I was replacing someone, but I guess that would make sense. The Joker was a busy man, and someone had to have found all that information about me.

“No offense Mr. J,” The man sitting next to Frost said, “but this _kid_ doesn’t look like they could fight there way out of a paper bag.”

The man next to me also put up a hand, wanting to add something. “And she’s just a _kid_.” His voice was gruff, “Isn’t she still in school? What does she know about the empire you’ve got built up Mista J?”

Questions and comments from the others filled the room and I just looked down at my plate. They weren’t helping with my confidence, and I had to agree with some of their statements. I wasn’t violent at all. I didn’t know how to fight or even defend myself if I had to. I also needed to graduate high school. I was still in the first semester of my sophomore year, so I wasn’t even halfway done.

Finally, I raised my hand up a little, waiting to see if the Joker would notice. “Puddin’,” Harley called, noticing my hand poking up from the table a little, “I think Bern would like to say somethin’.”

The room grew quiet when she said that, and I felt all eyes on me. “M-Mr. J,” I began, swallowing the lump in my throat, “I-I would still like to go to sc-school, sir.” I stuttered quietly, looking him in the eyes.

It was dead silent after I spoke, and I was panicking that I already screwed up. Not even day one and I messed up. “Bernie, you and I will talk about the details in private once Harls gives you the tour.” He decided with a stone face. There wasn’t anger in his voice, which caused me to slump in my chair in relief.

Brunch finished shortly after that, with only about half of my plate eaten. Joker was out of the room first, with Frost and the other men leaving a couple minutes after. I was about to ask where to take my plate, but Harley stood from her chair with her hands on her hips. “Tour guide Harley, at your service!” She chirped, giving a fake salute.

That made a small smile come to my lips and I stood to follow her. Besides, it wasn’t like anyone else picked up after themselves.

“Let’s start here!” Harley smiled, gesturing to the room, “This is the dinning room! Arnie cooks every meal, then we eat in here. It’s empty otherwise.” She took my hand and led me out of the room through what looked like a restaurant’s kitchen door. Low and behold, behind the door was the kitchen. It was a professional chef’s kitchen, including the sink, fridge, and stove. “This is the kitchen. Arnie always keeps the fridge, freezer, and pantry stocked. You’ll never go hungry here!”

Harley didn’t stay too long, even though I would’ve liked to see the appliances for baking. We walked out from another door and were back in the messy family room. She didn’t waste time in there, assuming that I’ve already seen it.

There was another room next to the dining room, which looked to be the quietest room in the house. “Here’s the library.” She said, plopping down on the leather couch. That’s when I noticed her pet hyenas come out from underneath a table and lay at her feet just like a dog would do. Three of the four walls were covered with shelves and shelves of books. The fourth wall was blank. “Mista J likes to come in here when he needs time to think.” Harley explained quietly.

The blonde woman jumped from the chair before I could go and find a book to thumb through. We were off to the next destination. We peeped into a huge bathroom that had a rainfall, walk-in shower and marble tiling. She seemed much more excited about the indoor pool and hot tub. The whole room was surrounded by windows and didn’t seem like it was ever used. “We just got this room finished!” Harley gushed, grabbing me by the arm in excitement. “Puddin’ said we can throw a party to break it in!” If her idea of a party was anything like the club, I did not want to be part of that.

Moving right along, tour guide Harley brought me back through the family room and back up the stairs. We passed the bedroom I slept in and peeped in quickly to the room next to it. It looked similar to the bathroom downstairs, including the shower. The only difference was the marble was white in here and there was a small port-hole window. Harley pointed out a couple more guest rooms and the linen closest.

Our next room we went into was a game room. It looked like a mini arcade in there: pinball machines, retro video games, new video games, a pool table, a dart board, and a bar were just some of the features. “The boys are either in here or the family room.” Harley said, turning on a neon sign that was on the wall, “Don’t worry too much ‘bout learnin’ their names. Mista J seems to replace them a little too often.”

That sent a chill down my spine. If those guys were easily replaceable, how easy was I to replace? The blonde clown didn’t let me think too much about it because we were back in the hall and reaching the end of it. “Our room is down here.” She smiled, pointing to a closed door. “Puddin’ doesn’t like anyone else in there, so it’s off limits. Same thing for his office.” Harley explained in a quiet and serious voice. “Unless he wants you there, you stay out.”

All I could do was nod. She smiled, patting my head before opening another door. Inside was a spiral staircase. Harley went first and I followed behind a few paces back. At the top of the stairs was another room. It looked like a sun room, with all the walls being class and it seemed like some plants were thriving in the little amount of sun that Gotham gets. There were wicker chairs and couches, along with a wet bar and flat screen TV. “No one really comes up here.” Harley said in a bored voice, “But Fran still cleans it, so don’t worry about a mess up here.” I really like the room; the plants were colorful, the view of the city was crazy, and if Harley was right, no one would disturb you up here.

We left the room too soon, in my opinion, and went back down to the second floor. “You already know where your room is Bern, and if Puddin’ lets you stick around for a while, we can do it up how you like!” That made me smile. Harley seemed excited that I was staying with them, and wasn’t mean like I thought she could’ve been based on her reputation. We stopped in front of a door and I assumed that this was the Joker’s office. “Here’s where the tour ends hon.”

“Thanks for showing me around Harley.” I smiled, “I would’ve gotten lost without you giving me the tour.”

Her smile grew and she wrapped me into a hug before I could react. “Aw Bernie! It was no problem!” She cooed, shaking me a bit. “Now, this is where I leave ya!” The blonde knocked on the door, indicating that we were outside, “I’ve got some shopping to do and Puddin’ is waitin’ for you!”

Harley opened the door and walked right in. I stayed at the door, not wanting to intrude until I was asked to. “Puddin’, Bernie’s here to see ya.” She sang, wrapping her arms over his shoulders. He was sitting behind his desk, and let her climb right into his lap with a low chuckle. It seemed like they were a little distracted with each other, and I was getting a little embarrassed just standing there and watching.

I saw Harley gesture me to come in with her finger, so I walked in slowly and kept my eyes to the ground. The office had one wall of just a window, like the guest room I was in. There was also a conference table in the middle of the room. His desk was in a corner and looked like it was pushed there. There were also papers littered everywhere, organized chaos. There was a couch in front of the desk, just like at the club. After what seemed like too long for it to just be a kiss goodbye, they finally broke it off. “I’ll be back later you two.” Quinn said, coming from behind the desk.

Once she was gone, with the Joker watching her leave with a dopy smile on his face, I head the door close behind her. He shook his head and then looked at me with a still unsure look. “Sit down Bern.” The Joker said, pointing to the couch. I sat down slowly, fiddling with the button on the selves nervously. The sound of papers being shuffled around made me look up at the desk. Mr. J was shaking his head while looking over what was written.

“You’ve got a lot to learn kid.”

“E-Excuse me?”

He let out a low chuckle, setting the papers on the desk. “You wear your emotions on your sleeves.” The Joker explained, “That can get you killed in a world like this.”

I felt my face heat up in embarrassment. Growing up where I did should’ve taught me to be more careful with the expressions that I show people, but it didn’t. I was a shy, anxious girl and just wanted to get out of Gotham with the first chance I had. “I-I’ll try harder sir.” I said quietly.

“You’ll have to.” The Joker stressed firmly, “There’s no way you’ll make it working with me if you don’t.”  He warned. “On that topic, you’ll also have to learn some self-defense. There’s no way I’m trusting you with a gun.” He said bluntly, “But, you can’t count on someone comin’ to save you.”

I nodded, understating that I needed to be able to keep myself safe. I was also grateful that I wouldn’t have to learn how to use a gun. “Like Karate or something?”

The Joker shrugged, “Something like that. Frost and Harls will take care of it.” He said.

Again, I nodded and tried to calm my voice so that it wouldn’t tremble. “Ok, I-I’ll try my best Mr. J.”

“That’s what I like to hear Bernie.” The clown grinned, moving on to another stack of paper, “You’ll be workin’ with us now, but as the brains, not brawn.” He continued, “No offense sweet cheeks, but you’ve got nothin’ when it comes to strength.”

“So, what am I supposed to be doing exactly?”

“Research.” The Joker said, “You’ve got some talent kid, more than Joe ever had. I’d like to see what it’ll do to help out the business.” The brief complement made me feel a little better about being there.

It was nice to be reassured about my purpose. “I-I can give you the spreadsheet that I’ve got for the stores that I’ve gone to.” I offered, “An-And teach you how to use the different tools to get into the security systems without them going off. 

He wrote something down on a sheet, not looking up. “That’s what I like to hear.” The Joker commented, “And Frost will hook you up with a new phone. Your old one was somehow smashed to bits last night…” Something told me that it wasn’t an accident that my phone was broken after being kidnapped. But, I wasn’t going to say anything to the clown king of crime. I was just thankful that I’d be getting another one.

“Now, about your…other life.”

“Mr. J,” I interrupted, causing him to look up with a scowl on his face, “I really want to go to school.” I pleaded, “I-I know that it’s probably not convenient for you, an-and I’m probably asking for a lot, but-“

The Joker held up a hand, causing me to stop talking. “You’ll go to school.” He said, handing me a piece of paper. It looked like my school records, but there were some phone numbers and names changed by the emergency contacts. “From this point forward, you’ve got a new aunt and uncle lookin’ after you.” He gestured to himself when he was ‘uncle’ and I assumed that meant Harley was supposed to play my aunt. “But there’s nothin’ more. I can’t have you runnin’ around this city anymore.”

“Thank you, Mr. J.” I smiled earnestly. My body relaxed when I learned that I was going to be able to keep going to school. If I disappeared completely, I knew there would be more commotion.

He just waved it off, “Don’t say I never do anything for you. And don’t interrupt me when I’m talking again.” He looked serious about that one, and all I could do was nod quietly. The Joker leaned back in his chair, finally putting down the papers and pen in his hands and looking at me. I tried to look more relaxed than I actually felt, but I didn’t think it was going to fool him. “And now Harls is out shopping for you, so there shouldn’t have to worry about clothes.”

“She didn’t have to do that.” I mumbled, fiddling with the buttons again.

Mr. J laughed, low and chilling. “Oh yes she did. Our styles clashed, and if you’re working for me, you’re going to blend in.” He started clicking away on his phone, thumbs going quickly across the screen. “Now it’s just the question of needing to go back to your apartment?”

I let out a sigh, nodding quickly. “My equipment is all there still Mr. J. An-And some things for school.” I said.

His thumbs were flying across the phone again, and I looked down at my lap. “I’ll have Johnny and his boys take you once we’re done here. Only grab what you absolutely need. Nothing else, got it?”

I nodded quickly, “Of course Mr. J, I understand.”

He gave me a nod too, then started looking me over like I was in the middle of an inspection. It was making me a little uncomfortable, just being stared at by the most notorious criminal in Gotham, but it was his home, his business. I was just working with him now.  “Don’t disappoint me kid. I’ve got a lot riding on your abilities.”

“I promise Mr. J,” I assured him, “I’ll do everything I can to help you out.” I held out my pinky as a gesture for a pinky promise. I know that they’re childish, but it was the most I could do to show him that I meant my loyalty at the moment.

The Joker took it a little roughly and with a loud laugh. “Time will hold the truth kid.” He let go, and I took my hand back quickly. “We’re done here Bernie. Go down and let the boys know you’re ready to go. And make it a quick trip.”

I jumped from my spot quickly and left the room. “Yes Mr. J. I-I’ll see you later…I guess.” With that, I left the office and closed the door behind me.

There was noise coming from the family room and the closer I got, I could tell that it was from the TV. From the top of the stairs, I could see the henchmen all on the furniture, snacks in their hands and laughter coming from their mouths. I had to take a few calming breaths before walking down.

It didn’t help my confidence that once I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw that everyone stopped talking and muted the TV. “Um…sorry, b-but Mr. J says th-that we’re going to my apartment.” I muttered, looking at Frost.

Wordlessly, he stood and the others followed. I knew that this was going to be an uncomfortable ride, but I was appreciative it was getting done.

 

000

 

We were back in under an hour, and I still had no idea where the penthouse actually was. I knew that it was fifteen minutes from the apartment, but I didn’t know what direction we went because I was in the back of a white van with no windows in the back.

Once we got there, I was fast to pack my things up in a suitcase. A couple outfits that I know I would be comfortable wearing to school, even though Harley was buying me clothes too. I also tossed in some pajamas for good measure. My glasses, brush, and toiletries bag also made it into the suitcase. I also ran around the house to grab the money that was hidden. I packed up the equipment from the family room too, watching the men in my apartment with my prefrail vision. I also made sure to stuff all of my school supplies into my backpack I brought. Then there were some things that I don’t think Mr. J would call a necessity, but I still wanted. The first was my grandmother’s jewelry box. Another thing I brought was the framed picture on my dresser. It was of my grandparents and I at Christmas last year. We were all smiling in our matching sweaters in front of the Lee’s Christmas tree. Finally, as a last thought, I grabbed my Prism Pal toy. I used to collect Prism Pals when I was a little girl, getting a new one for my birthday and Christmas every year. The only one I kept was the first one I ever got – a yellow bear with a big sun on the tummy. It was called Sunshine Bear, but I called him Sunny.

When everything was packed up, and the bags were brought to the van, I locked up the apartment for what I was beginning to wonder was the last time.

We got back to the penthouse around eight and Frost brought my bags up without being asked. I thanked him when he put them down, and he just left. I set up my things, noticing that Harley took the liberty of putting her purchases away in the closet and dresser. There looked to be a lot of crop tops, high heels, and tight dresses in the mix. I put my clothes away too, seeing the comparison of designer clothes next to good will clothes. I also put my toiletries on the vanity and set up my school supplies on the desk. The equipment bag stayed packed up and next to the door. I didn’t know what the Joker wanted done with them, so I thought just having them in one place was the best option.

All of the money went in the bottom of the closet, not knowing where to hide them while I was here. Sunny took a spot on the bed next to the pillows while the framed picture and music box made a home on the night stand.

The room seemed a little homier once I got my things situated. I was feeling better about everything, so I decided to go downstairs and see if there was something I was supposed to be doing. When I got down there, it looked like the Joker and Frost were getting ready to leave with the other men, dressed for business. “A-Are we going somewhere?” I asked, causing them to turn from their conversation and look at me.

“ _We’re_ going somewhere, not you.” The clown king said, fixing the collar on his shirt, “There’s business I gotta get done Bernie.”

My shoulder slumped in disappointment, and I nodded my head sadly. “Oh…alright.” I whispered.

The sound of heels coming down the glass staircase made me turn around. Harley was coming down in a very short, red velvet dress with black heels and huge hoop earrings. Mr. J must have been the one to whistle at her because she did a little spin before coming to us. “Aw, does someone have a case of FOMO?” Harley teased, taking a clutch from Frost’s hands. “Don’t worry Bern, we’ll be back later!” She cooed, pinching my cheeks.

When she let go, I rubbed them to try and get the sting out. No one said anything else and I watched them leave the penthouse. I thought that with would be a little more ‘teamwork’ and a little less ‘behind the scenes’. But, I assumed I just needed to earn their trust a little more before I would be allowed to join them.

After shaking myself from my pity party, I went back into the guest room to change into some pajamas and get to work on research for the clown king of crime. I wanted to be on his good side, and I thought that getting ahead would help. The pajamas were nothing special, flannel pants with an extra-large band t-shirt.

I found some scratch paper I could use, a few colorful pens, and my equipment bag. With all of this in hand, I went down to the now clean and quiet family room to start. In about an hour, I wrote out detailed instructions about how each piece works and how to use it. Then, I spent another half hour writing step by step on how the returns would work at each store. At ten o’clock, I decided that my work was good enough and decided to try and stay awake for Joker and Harley, wanting to show them myself what I got done.

In order to keep myself awake, I turned on the TV to some comedy channel and flopped down in front of it. I placed my laptop on my lap and started a spreadsheet on stores that I thought would be of interest for the infamous clowns. Jewelry stores, computer stores, art stores, and even some museums that I thought had good exhibits. My eyes grew tired after a while and I decided to put my glasses on so that they wouldn’t get dry again.

With the black plastic frames on my face, and hair up in a bun, I went back downstairs and saw that it was almost midnight. I didn’t think it would hurt to rest my eyes for a little while, and decided to lay down on couch and watch the TV.


	3. Poor Unfortunate Soul

Fool Me Once…Fool Me Twice

Chapter 3: Poor Unfortunate Soul

 

* * *

 

The noise of a classic-sounding alarm clock woke me up too early for my liking. Sunny was in my arms and I was underneath the heavy comforter. My mind was trying to remember how I got back upstairs last night after I went back to the family room with my glasses. I had laid down on the couch and tried to stay up for the duo to come back, but I guess I went up on my own after a while.

I was squinting my eyes towards the clock on the side of the bed, the red number blurry without my glasses on. Reaching forward, I found my glasses and managed to get them on my face so I could read the time. When I read that it was 7:00, I sat up in bed and started climbing out of the huge bed. After making the bed, and making sure that my beloved bear was back in his spot by the pillows, I grabbed my things for the bathroom and tiptoed quietly there.

Monday’s were rough for anyone, and I had no idea how much sleep I actually got, so I was pretty tired. My hair wasn’t having it either, so it was put into two Dutch braids after I brushed my teeth. When I got back into the guest room and put away my things on the vanity, I stood in front of the closet with my hands on my hips. Getting dressed usually wasn’t difficult because I didn’t have many options on what to wear. But now that Harley went crazy with the clothes, I had some deciding to do. I didn’t want to offend her by not wearing something she thought I’d like, but most of the things she did buy went against the dress code.

After placing different clothes out on the bed, I finally found a good enough combination that I thought would make everyone happy. My old red school long sleeved shirt with Benny the bulldog on the front was my top, a brand-new pair of black leggings with mesh cutouts, my old army green jacket, and the new Nike black to grey ombre gym shoes. It was my style, but with some of Harley’s choices mixed in. I knew that any crop top would get me in trouble with the school for sure, and I don’t think that the Joker would be too happy if he got a call from the principle about that.

With my backpack packed, making sure that no heist things were hiding away, I gave one last spin in front of the vanity mirror and walked out of the room by 7:20.

As quietly as I could so that I didn’t wake up anyone who might have been asleep, I walked down stairs and into the kitchen. It was dark and I felt around the wall to try and find the light. It was an easy find and there was a good amount of light in the kitchen. I set down my bag so that I could find something quick for breakfast. After looking in the large restaurant sized pantry, I found a box of colorful cereal to have.

Breakfast was quiet. Just me, in the huge clean kitchen, sitting on top of the island with a bowl of sugar-coated cereal. It gave me time to think of a story to tell me friends if they asked any questions at school. I don’t usually have cereal for breakfast, but it was a nice change of pace. A nice change to my new routine. Once I was finished, I cleaned the bowl and spoon in the sink, and set it out on a towel to air dry.

I checked the clock and saw that it was around 7:45 when I decided to head into the family room and wait for someone to (hopefully) bring me to school soon. I sat on the couch and held my bag in my lap, resting my head in my hands while I waited.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait for long. Coming out of the library was Frost and Mr. J, talking quietly with each other. Mr. J was wearing the most casual clothes I had seen him in: similar looking pants I had on yesterday with no shirt and bed-head hair. He had something behind his back, but I couldn’t tell what it was yet.

“Good morning Mr. J.” I greeted quietly with a smile, “Good morning Mr. Frost.”

Neither of them greeted me back, but I just assumed that they weren’t morning people. The Joker handed me what was behind his back a little forcefully. The item on top was the form from yesterday with all of the spaces filled out and signed properly. “You need to turn this in to somebody.” Mr. J grunted, “It’s got all your ‘updated’ information for them.”

I nodded, taking the paper in my free hand. That’s when I saw what was underneath. It was a team lunch box with the Prims Pals logo on the front in all of its neon glory. Five-year-old me was freaking out on the inside, but fifteen year old me was trying not to cringe on the outside from embarrassment. “Harls isn’t much of a mornin’ gal, so she made this for you last night.”

That made me smile. The last time someone made me lunch was my Grandma on my first day of high school. She filled a thermos of soup, placed in a couple homemade cookies, and packed my favorite juice. “Will you tell her I said thank you?” I asked, kneeling on the ground so that I could put it into my backpack.

“If I remember.” He shrugged. I stood up and placed my bag back on my back, waiting for anymore instructions that he might have for me. “Johnny here will take you and bring you back from school today.” The clown king of crime explained, patting the tall man’s shoulder, “Don’t give him any trouble.”

I bit my lip, nodding quickly, “I won’t Mr. J.” That seemed satisfactory enough for him because after that, the Joker walked right past us and back up the stairs. The sound of a heavy door slamming indicated that he went into a room.

My shoulders slumped, kind of bummed that he didn’t even say ‘have a good day!’ or ‘see you when you get back!’ or even ‘I expect you to get right back to work once you’re back!’.

“He’s not much of a morning person either.” The bearded man said, making me turn and look at him. He was fishing keys out of his inner coat pocket. “And if we don’t leave soon, you’ll be late.” With that, I followed Frost out of the Penthouse.

We, thankfully, didn’t take the white van this time. Today, our ride was a shiny purple Infiniti. The windows were tinted and the seats were black leather. It was a loud car that seemed to draw attention to us, but my driver didn’t seem to care. I actually tried to talk to Johnny today, but he wasn’t too talkative. After asking my third ‘get to know you’ question, I gave up and decided to just look out the window for the rest of the drive. I was thankful that I could see where we were coming from this time, and I knew that we were East of the school once we got there. 

I told Frost that he could just pull up to the front of the school through the circle drive, just like other parents dropping their kids off. When he put it in park, he locked the doors before I could get out. He was digging in his other cost pocket and I almost thought he was going to hand me a weapon. A gun or a taser or a knife. Everything that I didn’t want him to hand me at a school.

Thankfully, it was just a new phone. It was the newest smartphone on the market and in a protective periwinkle case. “All of our numbers are in here already.” He explained, opening the contacts app, “And there’s a tracking program installed. So, don’t get any funny ideas.”

With the phone in my hands, I looked it over with a smile. I never got the nicest and newest gadgets, so I was excited to play around with it a little. “Don’t worry Mr. Frost. I’ll meet you here right after school.” I promised with a smile. Even if I did have a plan to run away, I’m sure that I’d be dead before I could get halfway through it. He unlocked the door and I jumped out, putting the phone in my pocket. After I shut the door, I gave him a wave and walked up to school.

That’s when I noticed that my best friends were watching me from the front stairs of the school. I mentally face palmed myself, knowing well that that’s our usual meeting spot. We all come from different sides of the city, so it was a good meeting spot.

First, there was Cole Patterson. When you look up band geek in the dictionary, his pretty little face would be there. He had his long black hair recently cut into a classic bowl shape and some new attachments added to his headgear. Cole was the youngest of four boys and all of them were star athletes at the school while he was the captain of the chess team. I invited him to sit with me at lunch in kindergarten and the rest is history.

Then the twins: Parker and Harper Knight. Parker was the oldest of the two and gave off a surfer guy lost in the city vibe. He always had his sunglasses resting on top of his spiky brown hair and a Hawaiian shirt as part of his outfit. He was the one to bring the gang into mischief and the first one of us to get a detention. It was in sixth grade and he decided it would be funny to lead a mother duck and her ducklings into the gym. He was also on the basketball team and had a lot of talent. I was excited to see him play once the season started.

Harper was the younger twin and by far the most adventurous. She just dyed her hair silver and it was always in some kind of hairdo. Today, it was space buns, and she was killing it. Harper just started a rock band: Fivedust. They were a rock band, and while it wasn’t exactly my taste, I still supported her. I was amazed at her Fall dance pictures when she showed up in something she made that night. It was beautiful and she got so many complements that night.

“That was a nice ass car Bernie.” Parker said, eyes glued to the car still parked there, “Who is that guy?” he asked.

“Whoever it is, they’re loaded for sure.” Cole said, wiping a little drool from his mouth.

Before I could answer, Harper was squatting down and looking at my pants closely. “Have to be.” She mumbled, pulling the fabric, “What’s with the new clothes?” I stepped back, holding my hands up in a defensive way so that they would look and listen to me.

After a moment, making sure that I would have their attention before starting, I gave them my story I had come up with. “I’m living with my mom’s baby brother and his girlfriend.” I started, trying not to stumble through the lie, “They just moved back to Gotham in the upstate part of town with his buddies.” I shrugged, proud of myself for not tripping up with my story.

I started walking into the school with the hopes they would follow me. “Was that guy your uncle?” Parker asked, “And is he willing to let me take the car for a spin?”

“No, that’s not him.” I said, trying to casually peep out of the window to see if Frost left yet, “That was one of his work friends.” I explained. Thankfully, I saw that he did indeed drive off when I came into the school.

We walked to our lockers and started putting our stuff away, “Well, if they’re from upstate, then the nice car makes sense.” Harper commented, putting away her heavy history textbook. “And I guess the new clothes are from them too, right?” she asked.

I placed my own history book in the red locker and nodded my head, “Yep. He’s a business man and there was something about ‘fitting the part’ blah blah blah.” I was the first to close up my locker and wait for the rest of them to finish up so we could make it to homeroom on time.

“Sounds like Daddy Warbucks from _Annie_.” Cole laughed, closing his locker.

That got a laugh from the rest of the group. I had to chuckle too, knowing full well that the Joker was nothing like that fictional man. “Oh, I almost forgot!” I remembered, opening my locker again quickly. “I have to bring this form to the office with their new information on it.” I explained, pulling the papers out of my backpack’s pocket. “And, I’ve got a new phone so I need your numbers again.” I said, fishing the phone from my pocket.

Harper grabbed it first, probably wanting to be able to put her name in with all of the emojis and a selfie. “I’ll go to the office with you Bernie.” Cole offered, taking the phone next and putting in his number quickly.

Parker went last and even added a selfie for good measure. I took back the phone with a smile. “Sure Cole, that sounds great.” We waved goodbye to the twins, telling them that we’d meet them in homeroom soon.

 

000

 

I was surprised that I was able to get through the morning like normal. I thought that I’d be getting texts from the Joker or Harley or even Frost all day asking me to look up things and do work. But instead, by friends created a new group chat named **Quad Squad** and kept sending me stupid memes through algebra two, American literature, and biology. It was in art history with Harper that I managed to get the chat on a silent mode.

Miss. Peindre ended the class by passing out permission slips for a field trip in a couple weeks to the art museum. Harper and I walked to our lockers together, knowing that the boys would save our seats in the cafeteria. “It’ll be on the opening day for the Yayoi Kusama exhibit. I’m so excited!” She squealed, putting away some of her books and grabbing some new ones.

My English book was put in my backpack and I grabbed the heavy history book along with my lunch box. “Yeah Harp…” I yawned, closing the locker and holding my things to my chest, “It’ll be neat for sure.”

“You look dead tired Bernie.” The silver haired girl said quietly, looking me dead in the eyes.

I shrugged, “I haven’t gotten too much sleep with the move.” I explained, walking towards the lunch room with the hopes she would follow me, “But, I’m sure once I adjust, I’ll start sleeping better again.”

We made it to the cafeteria once the bell rang and found the boys at our usual lunch table. It was the closest to the gym and only had enough room of the four of us. The Parker had this and Harper’s school lunches already while Cole has his usual brown sack.

Once I took a seat, I set down my own very colorful box and heard some snickering from the others. “Wow, nice box Bernie.” Parker snickered, unwrapping his burger from the wrapper.

I gave him a glare, causing him to shut up quickly, “My uncle’s girlfriend got it for me.” I said with clenched teeth, opening the metal box, “I’m sure she thought I was much younger before we met.”

Inside of the box and on top of the food, I saw that Harley left me a handwritten note. It was on a pink post-it notes and her handwriting wasn’t very neat. The note read:

 

**Why did the jelly bean go to school?**

**He wanted to become a smartie!**

 

I smiled at the cute note and set it aside. Inside of the box was the actual lunch. There was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the shape of a star, a bag of normal potatoes chips, and a juice box. My smile fell once I realized it was peanut butter and jelly. It’s not like they would’ve known, I didn’t tell them that I’m allergic to peanut butter, but it was kind of disappointing.

 “Wanna trade?” Cole asked, holding up his tuna fish sandwich.

Without a word, we traded and I was thankful that he had something different for me to eat. Lunch was going on like normal; Harper was trying to convince us to come and see her band play at the park this weekend, Parker was complaining about Coach Heitz again, and Cole had to leave with a toothbrush to try and get peanut butter out of the headgear.

We had about fifteen minutes left in the lunch period when they walked over: The Gem Trio. They were the most popular girls in school and they knew it. Everyone knew it: freshmen, teachers, staff. Just one look at them and you could tell they were the popular girls with the stereotypes included.

There was the not so smart one, Jade Key. She took dumb blonde to a whole new level once she dyed her already strawberry blonde hair to a platinum blonde. Jade knew everybody no matter what ‘status’ they had, which meant she was the one to pass along any dirty rumors that might start. If you wanted information on someone, she was the girl to go to. But don’t rely on her knowing much when it comes to group work. Her dad told her that her beauty will get here where she needs to go, and Jade is riding that to the bank.

Then Crystal Archer fit the strong role of the group. She was the tallest girl in our school at 6’3” and captain of the volleyball team. On our first day of middle school, she threw Cole in a trash can because he accidentally stepped on her new gym shoes and left a scuff mark. Even some teachers were afraid of her because of how big she was. Last year, Mr. Truman gave her an A on a project she didn’t even turn in because she was almost a whole head taller than him. 

Finally, the most popular one of them all Amber Summer. Her deep red hair was always straightened and frizz free. Amber’s nails were always manicured, her makeup always done, and her phone always the newest model. She never wore the same designer clothes more than once either, and there was a rumor once that she didn’t donate the clothes to anyone, but would burn them. Her dad was Samuel Summer, owner of Gotham baseball team the Gotham Giants. He made a lot of money, and the Summer’s didn’t mind showing it off.

The three of them came up to the table, with Amber standing right between Harper and I. Her friends stood behind her and all of them had their arms crossed in front of their chests. “Well, well, well. What do we have here?” The red head leered, shaking her head, “Is this the first day in your whole life when you’re not dressed like a nun?” She asked with a teasing tone of voice. “Don’t think I didn’t notice _Bern_.” She said, squatting down so she could pull on my legging’s fabric with her fake nails. “Those are the same ones I wore last Wednesday, and I’m honestly surprised you went _so_ risky.” Jade and Crystal both laughed, making my face heat up.

It wasn’t that I dressed super conservative, but most girls my age weren’t afraid to show a little more skin than me. “Bernie never dressed like a nun, Amber!” Harper defended me, sending the girl a dirty look. 

“And who cares if she did?” Cole asked, picking something out of his braces with a toothpick.

Parker hummed in agreement, leaning back in his chair, “Her new Uncle’s loaded! Of course, she’s gonna have nice clothes now!” The older twin added, earning a glare from all three of us. I felt my teeth clench in my mouth, now angry and self-conscious, “What? He is, right Bernie?”

I couldn’t say anything. I seemed to have lost my voice and just wanted the floor to eat me up. And it only got worse once I heard Amber’s laugh in the mix with her friends. She was standing back up and her hands were on her hips. “Oh, that’s priceless! Someone took pity on you and now that you can buy any clothes you want, you try to blend in with the popular crowd!” Her laugh was shrill and I could feel some tears in my eyes. 

On the one hand, the Joker and Harley Quinn seemed like they were super rich and did buy me things. Especially Harley. But, there was no way that I thought Joker could take pity on anyone. He said it himself that I needed to blend in with _his_ crowd, and I didn’t think he would say his crowd was popular.

Before a fight could start, the lunch bell rang and I got my things quickly. “Well, wish I-I could stay and chat, bu-but that’s the bell!” I said, standing up. “I’ll see you in gym Parker!”

With that, I was in the sea of students and on my way to the music room. It was at the far side of the school, and I knew that I’d probably be the first one there. Well, other than Mr. O’Sullivan. He was the one who taught me piano when I was four years old and always encouraged me to try challenging songs. Mr. O’Sullivan grew up with my dad, and they were pretty good friends.

Just like I thought, I was the first one in class other than the middle-aged music teacher. He was placing new sheet music on all of the music stands. “Hello Mr. O’Sullivan.” I said quietly, taking my seat at the baby grand piano.

“Oh! Miss. Mulligan!” he smiled, looking up from the stack in his arms. “Right on time, as usual.”

I just smiled, taking the sheet music I was given and placing it on the stand. The title at the top in blond font said **Rhapsody in Blue** by Gershwin. This was not an easy one to learn, and kind of piano heavy. But Mr. O’Sullivan was working really hard on perfecting the sound of his orchestra. “Nice choice Mr. O.” I commented.

The teacher sighed, taking his place at the conductor’s podium once he saw other students head in. “I know it’ll be a crowd pleaser at the program, but I hope I’ve given us enough time to make it great.”

More students came into class, grabbing their instruments from their lockers and shelfs and sitting at their seats. Before I could do a couple scales to warm up, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Taking it out, I felt my heart jump into my throat once I saw that it was Harley. There was a red heart in the front of her name and another one at the end. Taking a deep breath, I opened it up.

 

  * J gave u the lunch I packed, right????? *questioning face emoji*



 

I couldn’t help but smile at the emoji choice. Of course, Harley would be the queen of emojis. I typed out my text back to her, then set the phone on the stand next to the sheet music.

 

  * Yes he did.
  * It was great, thanks Harley



 

I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I was allergic to the sandwich, but I was hoping I could find a way to hint that I’d want a different kind of sandwich next time. Her response came almost immediately and it was a bunch of red heart emojis and food emojis. I tried not to laugh, but I was happy that she seemed satisfied with my answer.

Mr. O’Sullivan tapped his baton and tried to get class started. It was my job to help people tune their instruments, so I began the usual routine of playing the notes so everyone could tune themselves. In the middle of tuning C, I got another text from Harley. With my free hand, I opened the phone and read her message:

 

  * Puddin’ is lookin’ at your papers! *eyes and magnifying glass emojis*



 

My heart dropped and I got reminded to move along to the next note by Mr. O’Sullivan. When I switched the note and saw that he wasn’t looking at me anymore, I quickly typed out my answer in a panic:

 

  * What does he think??



 

I set the phone back quickly and made sure I paid attention to our teacher. He was saying something about looking for people to audition for the Winter concert. While playing a solo or in a small group was optional, the concert itself was required. I didn’t think that I would audition, with all that I had on my plate with the Joker, but I knew that Mr. O would try and convince me. 

Because of Harley, I was distracted all period long. I knew that Mr. O’Sullivan could tell that I wasn’t in the zone, but I had to be in order to keep the rest of the class together. If the piano was off, everyone was off. I cracked my knuckles and shook my head after the fifth time we had to stop. I needed to get back in the zone.

Thankfully, the hour passed without anything to trip me up and I did get a text as soon as I walked out of the class:

 

  * Loved it! *heart eye emojis*



 

* * *

 

Just according to plan, Frost was there in the same exact spot after school to pick me up. Same car and everything. I had to shout a goodbye behind me as I ran to the car, holding onto my backpack’s straps tightly. Our drive to the penthouse was quiet and uneventful, which I was kind of thankful for.

Once we got inside, Frost left me in the family room and went straight upstairs to where I assumed the Joker was. I could also hear voices coming from upstairs, and I assumed the henchmen were in the game room or a meeting. Deciding to take advantage of the peace and quiet, I set up camp in the family room on a large leather couch to get my homework done.

In about an hour, I got through my math worksheet and English reading. Algebra had the answers in the back of our textbook and I acutely enjoyed the book we were reading in class, _The Great Gatsby_. But I spent almost forty-five minutes on my stupid biology homework. The handwriting was not legible by the time I finished, but I didn’t care. Mr. York was going to take it no matter if he could read it or not.

When I opened my history book to the chapter on the civil war was when I heard the noise from upstairs come closer to the stairs. There were about fifteen men today with Frost and the Joker nowhere in sight. They all seemed to ignore me because every one of them flopped down on all of the furniture with loud laughter. Someone turned on the TV to a wrestling channel with the volume up at full blast.

At first, I tried to tune it out, letting my highlighter go over the letters in the book like they were supposed to do. But after I had to read the same paragraph ten times, I got annoyed. “H-hey,” I squeaked, gaining their attention from the TV for a moment, “do…do you mind turning the volume down just a little bit?” I asked, holding my fingers a little bit of a distance apart to show my point.

They laughed again, and I could feel my ears get warm. “Hey shrimp,” The one with the remote said, waving the remote at me, “if you don’t like it, why don’t _you_ leave?”

“Bu-but… _I_ was here first.” I stuttered, scrunching up my eyebrows, “And I just asked for the volume to be turned down.”

Again, I was laughed at by them, and the one who was sitting next to me even had the nerve to knock my stack of homework to the ground. “Ok, I guess we need to be more blunt.” The one with the remote said, standing from his spot and coming closer to me. I made myself smaller when he was towering over me, the remote right in my face, “You’re gonna leave now, no questions asked. Get it?” He threatened in a low growl.

I nodded fast, grabbing my books from the ground and throwing them into my bag. As I left to the dining room, I could hear even more laughter from the family room and I tried not to cry. I guess I just couldn’t escape bullies.

As I wiped my eyes with the back of my sleeve, I heard the door to the kitchen swing open. In walked a heavy-set man with scruffy looking facial hair and a dirty apron around his waist. He must have noticed me because a smile formed on his face and I saw that he was missing a couple teeth. “Ah, you must be the new guy…uh, gal.” The chef said, setting down the plates and wiping his hand on the apron. He held it for me to shake with his goofy looking smile, “I’m Arnie Perkins.”

I took the calloused hand politely and gave him a small smile, “I’m Bernie.” I introduced myself with two strong shakes from him. “Um…do you need any help with dinner?” I asked once he let go.

“The grub’s all done.” Arnie stated, placing his hands on his hips, “But if you wanted to set the table, that’d work.”

“Sure thing!” I said, setting down my backpack at the chair I sat at yesterday.

I think he was super happy that I offered to help, and I made sure to set the table in the way that Grandma Alice taught me. Fork on the left, knife and spoon on the right, napkin on the plate. I even brought in the pan of potatoes while Arnie had the salmon and asparagus. It smelled amazing and I was excited to eat.

The door from the dining room opened and I jumped a little when it hit the wall. The Joker’s now familiar chilling laugh sent some goosebumps up my arms and I could feel my ears get warm again. He was holding the papers that I had worked on the other night in his hands and threw them on top of his plate when he took his seat.

“Bernie,” He beckoned with a wave of his hand, “come sit here.” Mr. J was patting the chair to his right, where Harley sat yesterday.

I walked over slowly, grabbing my bag from the other seat and placing it under the table when I sat down. “Doesn’t Harley usually sit here?”

“Harls is with some lady friends tonight.” He explained, “And we need to talk business.” Much else didn’t need to be said, and I just nodded. It was kind of nice to be told that we were going to actually start something important, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high.

Frost and a handful of the other men walked in after a couple of minutes of quiet between us. The bearded man took the seat on the Joker’s left and the men that walked in filled in the empty chairs. I saw the one who had the remote sit right next to Frost, and he sent me a nasty glare.

The Joker served himself first, a lot of fish and not so much with the sides. The second the scooper for the tiny potatoes was put down, the others all began serving themselves and digging in. It was like they’ve never seen food before the way they dug in, and I watched with wide eyes. Somehow, I managed to grab myself a small piece of the fish and a few asparagus too.

I couldn’t take my eye off of the papers that were between the Joker and I, my handwriting in the colorful pens drawing me in. The sound of food being cut and chewed is what filled the room, and I was becoming impatient about what the Joker would want to talk about.

After wiping my mouth with the napkin in my lap, I turned to look at the clown king of crime before speaking. “So…Harley texted me during class today.” I said, hoping that would’ve broken the ice for conversation.

He looked up after getting a piece of salmon on his fork. “Yeah…what’d my lady say?”

“That you were looking at my notes.” I answered, cutting myself another piece of the salmon.

Mr. J didn’t say anything for a moment, taking his time chewing and taking a drink of whatever liquor he had in his glass. “I have to say, I’m surprised that you got all that done last night.” He began, “And how complex your systems work on top of it all.”

“I’m self-taught Mr. J.” I explained, reaching for the glass of water in front of my plate, “Did you see the stuff about the new places I was looking up?” I asked. Without permission, I took my papers and flipped through them, looking for what I was talking about. It was in the back, and I leaned over in my chair so that I could point to what I was going to talk about. “I’ve only really done stores before, but there’s new exhibit opening at the Natural History museum this week, and it’s a large collection.” I pointed to the table I was talking about with all of the information I found so far about it, “It’s the Hall of Geology, with the tiara from a princess in the United Kingdom as its main attraction. It’s covered with emeralds and diamonds!”  Quickly, I set down the papers and fished my phone out of my pocket, looking up a picture of it to show him. The Joker took my phone so that he could look at it himself, “It’s worth a lot of money Mr. J, and I’m sure they’d give us a good reward!” I chirped, feeling proud of myself. The Joker looked really interested in what I was saying, especially when I showed him what I was talking about.

That feeling disappeared too quickly when I heard the henchmen at the table begin to laugh, even Johnny had a smirk on his face. “We’ll see about making any returns.” Was all the clown said, handing me back my phone.

I stuffed it into my pocket and felt my shoulders slump a little. “Oh, okay.” I whispered, picking up my fork, “Well, are we having a meeting or something tonight?” I asked, poking at an asparagus. 

“I’ll tell you when you’re needed.” The Joker answered, sounding annoyed with me. That was enough to shut me up. A pit was forming in my stomach and I was losing my appetite.

Silence filled the room again as I played with my food, not looking up from the plate. Until the clown cleared his throat and started to talk again. “So, I guess if I’m ‘Uncle J’, I should ask you about your day at school.” he stated, setting down his knife. “So, how was your day at school?” Mr. J asked in a mocking tone of voice.

That had the others laughing again, and I just frowned. I was going to tell him what actually happened to me during school because I thought that he would actually want to know, but it seemed like all of this was just a big joke to him, so I decided against it.

“It was fine.” I answered quietly, “Nothing exciting.” After answering, I set my utensils on the plate and scooted my chair back a little, “May I be excused? I’m not that hungry.”

The Joker just waved me off, a questioning expression on his face. It almost looked like he was going to make me stay, but he didn’t. Quickly, I threw my napkin on the table, grabbed my bag, and walked to the door after saying, “I’ll see you when you need me.”

I took the stairs two at a time before making it into the guest room. My bag was thrown on the floor and I slumped into the seat at the desk, my head in my hands. I didn’t want to cry, there wasn’t a reason to cry. But my eyes were still ready to make tears. With a couple of deep breaths, I felt better and decided to use my time better and give the Joker a reason to find something for me to do.

Powering up my laptop and digging out some more paper and pens, I went to work on finding the working schedules for all of the staff for every place I had listed. Each place had a different color and I tried to be as detailed as I could, saving every link to my hard drive in case he wanted to look for himself. Close to nine, I called it a night with doing anything more and went to slide it under the office door. The door was closed, and I was quiet. After pushing it under and making my break back to the room I was staying in, and closed the door and changed into my PJ’s for the night.

Once that was done, I went to pull out my biology textbook and begin to study for a quiz that Mr. York was giving us at some point this week. The lamp on the desk was giving me just the right amount of light to read from where I sat Indian style on the bed. In the middle of listing the parts of the cell, the room’s door slammed open and hit the wall. 

I jumped, turning around to see the Joker waltz right in. He was dressed in a red dress shirt that wasn’t buttoned all the way, purple gun holsters acting as suspenders, and black dress pants with matching shoes. There was a part of me that thought he was going to ask me to join him on a job or something by the way that he walked in. “Can I help you?” I asked, a twinkle of hope in my eyes. 

He just laughed, taking a seat on my bed and not taking his eyes off me. “I toldja already that I’ll tell you when I needja.” He scoffed with a roll of his eyes. “I’ve got business to take care of, so we’ll be gone.” The Joker explained.

That made me frown and close my textbook, the motivation sucked out of me. “Also, try not to fall asleep on the couch downstairs tonight. I don’t want to have to carry your ass up again.” That made my eyes widened and face burn. I didn’t know that the Joker was how I got into my bed last night. 

I watched him stand from the bed, messing up the blankets when he did so, “By the way, I did find your new stuff on the floor.” He said, picking up Sunny from the bed and turning it in his hands before throwing it back on the pillows, “I’ll take a look tomorrow.”

I went to straighten out the bed that he ruined and could hear him chuckle, but I didn’t care. I was so defeated after today that I was glad they were leaving and I would be alone. I didn’t need them. I didn’t need anyone.

Once I was certain I was alone for the rest of the night, I brought down my sheet music to the huge piano and began to practice. I needed to be on my game with it tomorrow, and I wasn’t going to waste any more time dwelling on something I couldn’t change.


	4. Getcha Head in the Game

Fool Me Once…Fool Me Twice

Chapter 4: Getcha Head in the Game

* * *

The rest of the week went by in a somewhat similar way.

Mr. Frost ended up taking me and bringing back from school, which I was thankful for. I didn't want to be stuck with any of those other henchmen alone, especially because it didn't seem like any of them wanted to be around me. My new clothes stayed on their hangers too. I didn't want to bring any more attention to myself from the bullies, so it was back to my good will clothes.

A silver lining through the week were Harley's lunches. I still didn't tell her that I was allergic to the sandwiches, and had to trade with Cole every day, but I kept each note that she left taped to the top lid. Harper started bringing me coffee in the morning after I fell asleep in art class on Tuesday. She was concerned about how exhausted I was, and I was grateful that she was looking out for me.

After school every day, I'd head into the guest room and do my homework there. The door would be closed and I found a pair of headphones to use so that I could drown out the loud games or shows coming from the televisions in the penthouse. The only time I would come downstairs was when Arnie would go onto the intercom and call everyone down for dinner. Harley was back for the remainder of the week, and took her spot next to the Joker. She would make conversation with me about anything on her mind: what she did during the day, how she saw the cutest dress at the department store, about her workout kicking her ass. I'd try and humor her by keeping the conversation going, but I was focused on eating quickly and going back to homework.

When I was finished with my homework, I would shower and make it seem like I was getting ready for bed. Close to ten every night, Harley would come into the guest room with a smile on her face to tell me that she and the Joker were heading out for the night with a "Don't wait up for us honey!".

From the time that they would leave to about midnight or one in the morning, I would practice the piano. I needed a good distraction and music was the key. Mr. O'Sullivan was impressed with how much improvement I was showing with the song we were learning in class, and he started hinting that I should start looking for my audition song for the Winter program. This was part of the reason why I was so tired when I went to school on top of not really sleeping well when I knew that no one was at the penthouse when I fell asleep.

On Friday after school, it seemed like things were going to change.

000

Frost was parked at his usual spot in the circle driveway, and I heard the car unlock when I was two steps away. When I buckled myself up, Frost drove off like usual to the penthouse in the south side of town. I jumped a little when he actually spoke to me when we got onto the expressway. "Boss wants you at the club by five." He informed me, turning on his blinker to switch lanes, "So that means you need to look the part and bring your gear."

It was cheesy and stupid to grin at hearing that news, but I couldn't help it! Finally, after almost a full week of being kidnapped, I was going to be doing work! "Uh, you're taking me there, right?" I asked, pretty sure that he was, but I just wanted to make sure that I didn't have to call for a taxi or depend on someone else bringing me there.

He nodded, turning into the ally where the garage was. I was getting antsy with excitement and nervousness. I still wouldn't call myself a criminal in my books, but I was just really excited to actually be included with the others and get to do something for once. We took the elevator up and I took the stairs two at a time to get up to the guest room.

I had about an hour and a half to get ready, my gear together, and get to the  _Smile and Grin_. The first thing I decided to do was to get my bag together. I needed to make sure everything gear wise was in there because you just never know and I would rather be over prepared than under prepared. I also made sure to put in a notebook so that if I needed to jot down anything, I wouldn't have to ask for paper.

Then came the challenging part – clothes. Frost said that I needed to 'look the part' which I took as blending in. So how was an almost sixteen-year-old supposed to blend in at a club?! I had seen the clothes that Harley would wear out and did not feel comfortable at all showing that much skin in public, let alone to the people who were supposed to be my boss. After throwing a bunch of clothes on the bed, I decided to step back and get my hair figured out first. Harley's was usually curled, but I didn't have any hair tools to make my hair change. So, I went with half down half up in a bun. It was out of my face and better than a messy bun.

Finally, after narrowing it down to what I thought would work, I went to the stairs to ask for a second opinion. Frost was sitting in a lazy boy chair in the family room, flipping through a what looked like a car magazine. "Hey, Frost…" I called, getting him to look up from the magazine, "Do you mind coming upstairs for a minute? I could use another set of eyes."

He stood slowly and made his way to the stairs. I ran back into the purple room, standing in front of the bed. Frost came in, looking at me for what I needed. "What, the clothes?" He asked, gesturing to the bed.

I nodded, giving him a shrug. The pants were pretty ripped up skinny jeans, and I was planning on wearing white low tops with them. The top is what I was struggling with. I held it up to me, turning to him so he could see. It was a black Led Zeppelin shit, but cropped pretty short. "Ok, so this shirt, but with the flannel around my waist so it can cover me a little more. Whatcha think?"

Frost glanced at the flannel I was talking about still on the bed. It was black and yellow in color, plain and simple. "Sure, it's fine." He said, giving me a shrug.

"Promise?" I asked quickly, putting the shirt back on the bed, "Because I don't want to upset Harley Quinn or the Joker because I didn't put on the right outfit. I just want to blend in."

The bearded man nodded his head, turning to leave. "Trust me, you'll blend in fine. Now get dressed." With that, he was gone after closing the door behind him. Quickly, I put the outfit on and stood in front of the mirror to make sure I looked fine. I wasn't super sure if this is what they considered appropriate for the  _Smile and Grin_ , but at least I was sort of comfortable.

My backpack was a little heavy, but I needed everything in in. Frost was standing at the door once I came down and we went back to the garage to head out. The drive was quiet, but I think Frost could tell that I was getting a little antsy because once he parked out front, he didn't unlock the doors so we could get out. "Take a couple deep breaths, kid." He suggested, taking off his sunglasses to look me in the eyes, "Mr. J's tests can be a challenge, but I know you'll be up for it. He knows you're up for it."

I was surprised that it made me feel better about going in there for this meeting. I got out of the car and was kind of surprised that Frost wasn't going with. He rolled down the window when I didn't cross the street to get to the club. "I'll be back in a bit. Go on in and wait for Mr. J." With a nod and a smile, I crossed the street to get to the Joker's club.

There weren't any bouncers at the doors outside, and I found it locked. With a knock on the door, I stepped back and hopped that someone would unlock it for me or I would have to call Frost back. Thankfully, Mack from my first night there, opened the door for me. I smiled and thanked him for letting me in. He didn't seem annoyed like the henchmen in the penthouse, which was welcoming. Mack went back to where he was sitting at the bar with a new bouncer.

_Smile and Grin_  was ginormous.

I walked around to the middle of the room, taking it all in. It reminded me of what the Greeks thought Mt. Olympus looked like. White marble with gold accents were everywhere you looked. The bartender was behind the bar, and she was handwashing the glasses. There was a tiny television behind the bar that had a poker game on it without the volume on. Chandlers with what looked like real glass accents were bringing light into the quiet room.

The DJ's booth was empty and I assumed whoever was in charge of the music would come to their job closer to opening time. But, I was glad to find a hidden gem right behind the booth. It looked like a place for a live band to play, including a beautiful cherry red parlor piano. The lid was closed and the keys were hidden with its housing. I looked around for a brief moment, seeing if anyone was going to stop me from opening the lid and taking a seat.

When it didn't seem like I was going to be disturbed while I was waiting, I opened the heavy lid of the gorgeous piano, set my bag down, and took a seat at the stool. With one last look behind me to make sure I wasn't going to get a surprise attack, I decided to sit and play something.  _Für Elise_  is what I decided to go with, the notes engraved into my memory. It was the first song I learned how to play, so it comes to me so naturally, just like riding a bike. I have memories of Mr. O'Sullivan being patient with me at the piano in the apartment. His hands showing me how to play. Grandpa would be in his hair, tapping his foot along while Grandma would be in the kitchen, usually baking a sweet treat. It was almost like meeting an old friend again.

Once I finished the familiar sounding song, the sound of small applause followed. I looked up from the keys to see Mack, the other bouncer, and the bartender clapping. With a smile on my face, I stood up and curtsied to them with a laugh, using the flannel shirt around my waist as a pretend dress. It wasn't like I was expecting an applause. And honestly, I forgot that they were there, but it made me glad to get a positive response for playing.

"Oh! it was  _you_  playin' bunny!" a voice said from behind me. I turned around, and saw the queen of crime herself coming down the stairs. She was wearing a black tank-top crop-top that buttoned around the neck and had cutouts in the front so there wasn't much left to the imagination. Her tight, red leather mini skirt was holding onto her curves like a life line and thigh high black leather heeled boots. Harley's hair was in curls like the last time I came to the club.

She skipped down the last stairs and ran up to the piano. "Wowie," she wolf-whistled, "showin' some skin, huh?" she teased, cause a blush to form on my cheeks while I pulled the shirt down a little, "You look good doll!"

I shook my head, "I don't feel good." I mumbled, "I don't usually dress like this Harley."

The blonde girl held me out at an arm's length, looking me up and down. "Well, you shouldn't." She stated firmly, a small smile on her face. Harley let go of me and walked to look inside of the piano, leaning over to really get a good look. I sat down at the stool and watched her. "I haven't heard a piano in this place in a  _long_  time." She whispered to no one, slowly standing up. When she looked at me, I gave her a supportive smile.

"Um…Where's Mr. J?" I hesitated, "Frost said that he wanted to see me."

Harley had her hands on her hip as she came to join me on the stool. "Puddin' is meetin' with someone, but they should be wrapping up soon." She explained, "And the joint doesn't open for the public until nine, so we've got the whole place to ourselves for a bit Cookie!"

Of course, not only would we be meeting before the place even opened, but the Joker would be in a meeting before meeting with me. "Works for me." I shrugged, instinctively placing my hands on the keys in front of me.

I was nudged in the side of my arm by Harley, a huge and kind of mischievous grin on her face. "Why don't you play me somethin'? We've got nothin' better to do!" She said, pressing a few keys that were in front of her.

"Do you play?" I asked, thinking of something to play for her.

She shook her head. "Nah, my parents put me through gymnastics instead of music." Harley confessed quietly. I assumed that her past wasn't something she really wanted to talk about by the tone of her voice, which was fine by me.

Without a word, I scooted a little to the left so I had enough room to play the song I decided on.  _Days in the Sun_  is what came to mind and my fingers began to play at a good tempo. I wasn't sure if Harley was familiar with the song, but I was feeling a little nostalgic. "I played this song in middle school for the talent show." I murmured, letting my fingers grace over the ivory keys, "Grandma Alice said she cried." I chuckled a little at the memory. I was embarrassed at the time, but now that I was older, I was touched at the complement. The blond queen of crime didn't say anything, she didn't make a sound. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her eyes glued to my hands. It was almost like I put her under a spell.

The song came to an end, and I placed my hands in my lap. I was almost thrown off the stool because Harley stood up so fast and started clapping loudly, even throwing in a few whistles. The people at the bar also clapped again, and there was even laughter coming from where the private rooms are. The Joker was standing there with a grin on his face, his hands clapping slowly, and I assumed whoever he was meeting with was also clapping next to him.

Harley skipped over to where her man was standing, clinging onto his side. I stood myself, grabbing my bag off the floor, and walked over slowly to the men. "Wasn't she great, Puddin'?" Harley Quinn asked, leaning her head on his shoulder, "It was beautiful, wasn't it?!"

"You're just full of hidden talents, aren'tcha kid?" The clown king grinned, leaning on some kind of cane that he had in his hands. He had on a silver suit on today with a violet dress shirt exposed.

My ears felt warm at that, not super sure if it was a complement or not. "I thought it sounded pretty good girl." The stranger said, gold teeth shining in his crooked smile.

I didn't know how to answer so I just gave a somewhat questioning look to the Joker. "Bernie, this is Mr. Lorenzo Mariano." He said, pointing his purple cane over to the man. He looked like he jumped out of the  _Godfather_  franchise except for the teeth. Suit, hat, shoes, all of it screamed Italian gangster stereotype.

"From Mariano's Mechanics." Mr. Mariano explained, offering a hand for me to shake. "We're on almost every other block in this city toots." My eyes shifted from this shifty man to Harley, not wanting to take this guy's hand. She didn't help, so I took the hand and let him squeeze it a little too tight and shook it a little too rough. "We're workin' on the used car sales too. I've got a cousin on that part of the plan." The man laughed, elbowing Mr. J like it was an inside joke or something once he let go of my hand.

The Joker didn't really react to the man, stone faced and more focused on my reactions to him. "Harls, why don't you help Mr. M out to his car? Bernie and I have some things to discuss before this place opens for business."

Harley placed a kiss on his cheek, batting her eyes a little too flirtatiously in my opinion. "Sure thing Mista J." She walked away from his side and went to link elbows with the auto shop monopoly man. "Right this way doll." Harley chirped, leading him to the back entrance.

I made a mental note to look up more about this man and his shops to know who this guy really was. It wasn't that I didn't trust the Joker's judgements, but there was something about this creep that wasn't sitting right with me.

"Let's get started." The Joker said, offering me an elbow to take.

After a moment, not used to this kind of gesture from him (or anyone), I took it and let him lead me up to the office. "Is Harley going to join us?" I asked, letting him lead me into the booth that he must have just came from. It was behind some gold beaded curtains and in a semi-circle shape.

He moved into the booth on one side and I took the other. "She likes to warm up before the crowd comes in." The Joker clarified, setting his folded hands on top of the table. That made sense. She was a dancer here on top of working crime schemes with the Joker, so of course the blonde would want to warm up a little.

I set my backpack on my lap and hugged it to my chest. "I toldja I'd call ya when I needja." Mr. J began, twirling a gold ring on his hand, "And now I'm ready to put'cha to the test." He pulled his phone out of his suitcoat pocket and tapped a couple buttons to open, "You said somethin' about the geology exhibit or whatever." The clown said, "And I found some real nice things I'd like to add to my collection."

The phone was slid across the table and I saw that the crown I had before was pulled up. I bit my lip, looking up and giving him a tiny nod. "Yeah, this crown is the main attraction Mr. J." I explained.

"And I know that the place is gonna have to be combed over before anyone goes there to grab it." He continued, taking his phone back and putting it into his pocket. In the other pocket, he pulled out some folded-up papers and threw them my way. It was my notes, but typed out. "You've got the work hours for their employees and the security system that they use, but there's gotta be more to it, right?" he asked, letting me look over what he handed me.

I looked over it carefully, placing my finger on a typo. "Do you have a pen?" I asked, not looking up from my spot. With a clicking noise, I head it roll across the table and to my fingertips. It was a switch of two numbers, but they were important numbers to have correct on the time sheet. After I was done reading it, and correcting anything that didn't look right, I handed the pen back over.

"I usually set some physical bugs up before I go…if I can." I explained, passing the corrected papers back to him. While he was reading that over, I unzipped a small pocket on my backpack to fish a bug out for him to see. They were tiny, black, circular stickers that stuck to pretty much any surface. "Their radius is pretty large. But this is a museum, not a store. I'd need to put a ton down, and that'd be hard to do in public."

He snatched the tiny gadget from my hand, inspecting it over in his own. The Joker didn't give it back, setting it down on the paper instead. "Well, that's where your test, and my plan, come into play." Mr. J stated.

I sat up a little straighter, pulling out my notebook and reaching for the pen again so that I could take diligent notes. "First step is goin' through what you've got already. Checkin' your paper work, making sure your tech works. You'll do that tonight."

The pen scratched the lined paper as I made sure to get everything he was saying. "Got it, double check my work."

"Tomorrow, you head to the Natural History Museum." Mr. J went on, "I want to get those jewels sooner rather than later." He pressed.

"Alone?"

"I've got someone for you to go with." The Joker reassured, snapping his fingers.

I should've known that he would have a plan just waiting with the snap of his fingers. Frost was the first to walk in, followed by a boy who didn't look too older than me. The boy had shaggy dirty blonde hair. He was about as tall as Frost, maybe an inch or two shorter. He was wearing a light blue button up with a skinny tie and black dress pants and shoes.

They both stood at the open end of the table, identical looking eyes and stone-cold expressions. "This is Frost's kid brother." Mr. J introduced, getting up from his spot to clap the shoulder of the teenager, "He's playin' your bodyguard slash partner tomorrow."

I stood up too, feeling a little more self-conscious of my crop top now that there was someone around my age in the room too. "I'm Bernadette." I introduced myself, giving him a wave.

"Joseph." He answered, "I'm Johnny's half-brother." I nodded at his response, sensing a little tension in his voice at that.

Family seemed to be a little bit of a sore subject for a lot of people who run in this crowd.

"I figure the two of you are the best of the lot to have blendin' in with the crowds." The Joker explained, sitting back down again. I took my seat as well and Joseph sat next to me while his brother sat next to his boss. "You two will do whatever needs to get done at the museum and head back to the penthouse."

I nodded, going back to writing down a few more notes, like this guy's name so I wouldn't forget it. "Yes Mr. J. That works for me."

He gave his more creepy grin in my direction, leaning on his elbows at the table, "We'll handle the actual heist that night." The Joker said, then paused. After a minute, he pointed to the notebook like he expected me to write that down too. I did quickly, adding a small smiley face at the end. "So, I'm counting on you to pass your test kid." He said, a laugh following, "Because if you don't, I'll have a mess on my hands."

"I'll do more than pass Mr. J." I said firmly, "I'll ace it."


	5. 9 to 5

Fool Me Once…Fool Me Twice

Chapter 5: 9 to 5

* * *

I spent most of the evening upstairs in the Joker's office going through my papers and double checking the information I already had. The boys all stayed downstairs in the booth, which made me feel a little excluded. After about an hour of double checking, correcting, and adding information to the fact sheets, I felt so much better about doing this gig. In about another thirty minutes, I made copies for Frost, Mr. J, and the teenaged boy.

By ten o'clock, I had checked each bug I brought and made sure that they were picking up the information they were supposed to, even if it was just in the office. Once my backpack was packed up, I went downstairs with my papers in hand to find the men. They were still in the private booth, but with some half-dressed women dancing on the table. It was very awkward, just standing there and trying to get my job done. Mr. J shooed them away when I was finally noticed, the only girl staying was Harley. I passed around the papers, telling them they could ask any questions, but everything was updated to the hour.

When the clock struck midnight, Frost took me back to the penthouse after he told Joseph to leave. The Joker was insistent that I rest up for my 'exam' day.

* * *

It, unfortunately, was a sleepless night. The penthouse was just too quiet and I was left alone with my thoughts. I even threw up at one point because of how anxious I was. Even in the morning, my stomach was still queasy. There was no way I was eating anything, even if the cinnamon rolls smelled delicious. Instead of going down for breakfast, I packed up the bag with all of the bugs, my laptop, and a tablet to bring with.

I also worried about what I was going to wear to try and blend in. On the one hand, I didn't think I dressed to bring attention to myself, but my new clothes were nothing like I used to wear. It took some looking over and sorting on the floor, and finally I found something appropriate to wear. It was a large, sage colored sweater with denim overall dress and brown ankle boots. My hair was braided neatly down my back and I added a tiny white bow hair tie to hold it together.

The museum opened at ten o'clock and was about thirty minutes away, so I went down to the family room around nine-fifteen. There were a few goons down there along with Harley, the Joker, Frost and Joseph. The boy had on a casual outfit too: a dark wash jean jacket, a white t-shirt, khaki pants and brown dress shoes. I could see a gold necklace around his neck with the jacket being unbuttoned.

"Well look at you sugar!" Harley smiled, taking me by the hand and twirling me around so she could get a full look at my outfit. "With this cute look, you'll blend right in for sure!"

"And you need to keep it that way." The Joker added, looking me in the eye with a serious expression, "You're not ruining this because you can't blend in." he growled.

I nodded my head, "I understand Mr. J. Out of sight, out of mind."

He seemed to like that answer, patting my cheek a little roughly in response. That's when I noticed Frost pulled his brother away from the rest of us, standing near the door and talking quietly to him. I was pulled away from staring when a bag was shoved into my hands. It was a small, floral, cross body purse.

The bag seemed a little heavy, and when I unzipped it, there was about five wrapped up stacks of cash inside - had to have been about three hundred dollars. "Pay for your guys' tickets with that cash, and maybe buy yourself somethin' nice too." The platinum blonde instructed, "There's also some lipstick, mints, and a bottle of perfume in there too."

"What's all that stuff for?" I asked, raising my eyebrow in question.

She giggled, opening the tiny pocket and pulling out a bright red lipstick out. "What do you think lipstick's for Bernie?!" She said in a sing-song voice. I blushed, finally catching on. "You just can't be too prepared honey."

I saw that the Joker rolled his eyes at Harley's antics, and that assured me enough that it was only Harley thinking this way about the job. Joseph and Jonny joined us again, and I could see that the teenager looked kind of annoyed with his older brother. I shifted the backpack so that I could also put the purse on in a functional sense.

"Alright, listen up." The Joker rumbled, placing one hand on my shoulder and the other hand on Joseph's shoulder so that we were both looking that him while he gave us instructions. "Get this done quickly and correctly. I want to get these gems tonight, so don't  _dick_  around."

"Of course not, Mr. J." Joseph answered before I could say anything, "We'll be in and out."

The Joker grinned, showing his silver-plated teeth. "That'a boy!" he patted our shoulders before letting go.

After waving goodbye one last time, I followed the older boy to the door and we went down the elevator to the garage. It was a short and quiet ride, reminding me a lot of this brother in that way. Once we arrived, he walked off first and fished his keys from his pants pocket. There were the usual cars down there, but a new one seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. It was a two-door rusty-red truck all the way at the end. "Your chariot awaits." Joseph joked, unlocking the car with the key.

I had to jump up to get into the car, a little too short to climb in normally. The new purse went right on my lap and my backpack went on the ground between my feet. Once I was buckled, Joseph started up the engine and pulled out of the garage. The museum was uptown, and with the weekend traffic, I hoped we would get there right when the doors opened.

"So…" the older boy began, stopping at the red light, "do you go by Bernadette or Bernie?"

"Either."

He seemed okay with that answer, just nodding after I answered. It fell quiet again between us, but I didn't know what to do. I tried to think of something to ask him. My eyes watched him reach for the radio's power button to turn it on. An old-school rock band that I recognized filled the car. "Nirvana, huh?" I asked quietly, giving him a polite smile.

Joseph smiled too, a toothy grin. "Yeah, I kind of grew up with them."

"They're pretty good." I said with a shrug.

The song ended and the next one started, the driver humming along to the familiar tune. "Is this the first time you're working for the Joker, Joseph?" I asked, thinking of something else to say.

He turned the car to the left, taking Jefferson Street instead of Leon Road. "Yeah, for something this big." The teenager answered, turning a little too sharply, "And you can call me Joey." Joey added with a wink.

The rest of the ride was just filled with music, no talking at all. When we got to the parking garage, I pulled out the cash needed to pay for our ticket. Once the car was in park, I pulled out the notes I brought with us so that we could go over this one more time. "Alright, we need to place at least two bugs in every room in this place, just to be safe." I began, looking up to make sure that he was following, "This is going to take a little while."

"No worries boss." Joey answered, nodding seriously.

I nodded back, glad that he seemed good to follow along. "Then, if we can, I think we should get into the security room so that I can try and sync their cameras up to my hardware so we've got a direct feed too."

Joey looked over the papers again, nodding to himself every once and a while. "Everything looks good to me Bernie." He verified, handing the pages back.

He jumped out of the truck and I packed the bag back up before scooting myself out too so that I could follow him in. Wordlessly, the Frost brother took the backpack from my back and put it on his own. I smiled as a thank you, shifting the purse more comfortably. The parking garage was not full at all, which brought my stress levels down a lot. The less people, the less we would really need to hide too much.

Then, I jumped. Once we got outside of the garage, Joey reached for my hand. I held the hand up to my chest and gave him a crazy and questioning look. "We've gotta blend in, and acting like we're dating is the best way to do it." Joey said, giving me a weird look, "I promise that hand holding is all we gotta do,  _honey pie_."

I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. "Well, a little warning about your plan would've been nice,  _snookums_." I rolled my eyes, offering my hand back to him.

Joey just laughed taking the hand and lacing our fingers together. We walked hand-in-hand up the stairs of the museum's main entrance. Thankfully, we were one of the first ones in the place, with a small family in line ahead of us. The little baby in the father's arms was looking at us and I couldn't help but coo at it, making it smile and laugh a little bit.

I paid for the all-inclusive tickets with the cash Harley gave me, thanking the woman behind the counter who handed me a map and leading my partner to an empty bench so that we could map out our plan. "Let's start in the geology hall and make our way down." I suggested quietly, pulling a pen out of the front pocket of the bag, "The security room is next to the butterfly conservatory." I pointed out, circling an unlabeled room.

"If you think it's the best plan." He reached for the map himself, "You're the expert."

That made me shake my head, rolling my eyes. It seemed like Joey was actually much more relaxed and laidback then his older brother, which also helped me to stay calm. After putting the map into the side pocket of the backpack, he stood up and offered his hand to me. We took the grand staircase hand in hand and I tried to look for good spots to put the bugs once we would come back down. "Alright, once we get in there, we need to make sure there's at least one bug per display." I explained slowly, looking for anyone who might be listening in. "I was going to put them under the benches."

He gave my hand a squeeze as a response, and I took that as a good sign.

When we got upstairs, the geology hall was right when we got up. It was a circular room with displays covering the walls and with what Mr. J was looking for right in the middle. "Do you want to split up or stick together?" Joey asked, getting in line to show the guard our tickets to let us into this exhibit.

"I think we should split up." I answered after a moment, "We'll cover more ground that way."

The guard took our tickets and punched a diamond shape in it to indicate we had been in here already. After thanking him, we were let into the dimly lit room, just the spotlights on the displays being the only light in the room. "We need to time it out so it doesn't look weird." I explained, "The security cameras will capture us being here, and it looks weird if we're playing musical chairs in here."

"Maybe like tie your shoes or look at your phone or something…" Joey mused, "We'll meet in the middle once we're done."

I let go of his hand, giving him a smile as I went to the left. Joey went to the left and immediately went to sit in front of a display. I took a more different approach and decided to stand and read the information board before taking a seat. It was a huge, uncut chunk of amethyst and the paragraph gave some information that I knew I wouldn't remember later on. When I took a seat, I pulled a bug out of my pocket and placed it under the bench when I crossed my legs.

This process was repeated about eight more times with all of the different displays. Each one, I used a different way to place the tiny bug underneath the bench, and I was comfortable with the amount that we were placing in the room. After the last one in the room, I walked over to where Joey was walking around the crown in its case. There was a velvet red rope around it, and I could see Joey trying to place a bug there.

Just as he was about to put the bug down, I heard jingling keys coming into the room. A bigger security guard walked in, the keys around in hip clacking on each other. Quickly, I came over to Joey and grabbed his hand with the bug in it, causing him to stop. "Oh, isn't this just beautiful,  _darling_?" I gushed, laying it on thick by batting my eyes at him.

My eyes darted briefly to the guard and he understood what I was doing. "The emeralds are just like your eyes,  _angel_." He cooed, and I had to cringe a little. "What? I thought we were going extreme?" Joey whispered, shrugging his shoulders.

He let go of my hand and wrapped his around my waist, while I placed mine around his shoulders. Joey pulled me closer, and I had to fold my arms a little at how close we were. "I'm gonna turn you around so I can put this here. Don' freak out." I nodded, squeaking a little when I was twirled around.

I giggled, trying to play it up and not be scared by the physical contact. "Aren't you just so sweet?!" Joey flattered, and I could feel the left hand leave and place the bug on the rope. "Full of those giggles today!"

"Oh, stop Joey!" I buried my head into his shoulder, relieved when his hand went back on my hip, "You're embarrassing me!"

Joey twirled me back around and relaxed our embrace a little. He sent a wink my way and I blushed, putting my head on his chest. Someone clearing their throat caused us to pull apart and look at the guard standing near us. "Okay lovebirds, let's move along and let other people see the pretty crown." He muttered, motioning for us to start walking.

The teen boy took my hand and sent the man an apologetic smile, "Sorry sir, I guess my own little gem is just as distracting at the crown…"

"We'll be going sir." I added, pulling Joey's hand so that he would start moving, "C'mon  _sweetheart_."

We walked out of the geology hall and took a seat on the bench in front of the next exhibit. Joey put another bug underneath it while I took out the map and pen. I crossed off the geology hall and looked over what else was on this floor that needed to get done. " _Little gem_?" I laughed, folding up the paper and putting it back in the pocket.

Joey shrugged, "What? Don't ladies like being compared to precious jewels?" He asked.

I just shook my head, standing up and offering him my hand. "Not me." I answered, "But you're acting is top notch."

000

The rest of the exhibits went along in a similar way. Fossils, mummies, and the human body covered the rest of the second floor. We would take turns putting them in the hallways, getting creative on where we would put them like trash cans or under a staff member's chair. When we went downstairs, the same pattern repeated itself. Split up, meet in the center, grab hands, and continue on. Dinosaurs, airplanes, taxidermy mammals and space were quick to fly through.

Joey and I decided to stop at a vending machine to grab something quick to snack on. While Joey was picking out a sweet treat, I was sitting at a small table and looking at the tablet to see if the bugs were working.

"Want some?" Frost Junior asked, sitting across from me. He chose a bag of mini cookies.

I shook my head, stomach still a little uneasy from this morning. "No thank you." I smiled, moving my chair so that we could both look at the information together. He was munching away on the cookies while I tapped away on the device. After two or so minutes, I gave an thrilled chirp. "Yes, they're all working!" I whispered excitedly.

He was smiling too and held his hand out for a high-five. I gave him one in return and went to update the Joker and company on my phone. "Thank God!" Joey sighed, leaning back in his chair.

The message was short, but to the point. Simply saying that everything was working so far and we only had one more exhibit left to do. I wasn't expecting any responses, so the phone went back into my purse.

"All that's left is the butterfly conservatory." I announced, looking over his shoulder at the drawn-on map. When we finished an exhibit, we would cross it off in order to keep track of what we finished.

He looked at the map too, tracing his finger through the path that was printed there in the bug's room. It was not going to work the same way as the other rooms; it was a single path that guests had to follow to enter one room and leave out another. "What are we waiting for?" He asked, folding the map up and putting it away, then standing up from his chair.

I pulled him by the side of his jacket, a little to forcefully because he looked a little shocked. "Sorry, but I think we need a plan before we go in. I don't think the Joker is going to come near that room, but we still need it covered well." I stated calmly, "If there are benches, then we can do that still. But what if there aren't?"

"Then we'll roll with it." Joey answered with a grin. He looked so chill about all of this, even though I was pretty sure his life was depending on this going well too.

The teen boy stood up once more and took my hand to help me up too. He led me to the exhibit, tickets out for the employee punching them. We were given the rules and told to have a wonderful time before going through the doors.

It was absolutely the most beautiful place I had ever been. It was like a green house with all of the fauna and plant life in there. The room had glass ceilings, so the natural light was shining in. All around us, colorful butterflies were flying, taking to the sky and even landing on some guests who were in there as well.

Joey held onto my hand tightly, not crushing it but enough to know that he didn't want to let go. I turned to him and watched him slyly put a bug under an information plaque that we first stopped in front of. "Nice going." I whispered, giving his hand a squeeze.

We moved to the right side, making sure not to miss anything. "So, is it just you and Jonny?" I asked, 'reading' about the Black Swallowtail butterfly and putting the bug behind the white sign.

Joey shook his head, placing a hand on the sign to signal that he wasn't ready to move on yet. "I'm the youngest of four." He started in a quiet voice. "Jake and Jimmy were from pops' first marriage, Jonny was from his second, and I was from his third."

"Do you all…work in the same field?" I asked again, surprised he opened up to me in the first place.

Again, he shook his head. "Jake and Jimmy got out when they could, heading to Central City." He explained, letting go of the sign and moving to the next one. "Is it just you?"

My eyes turned up to the bugs flying around. "Yep, I'm an only child as far as I know." I answered casually.

I took a seat on a bench, looking at a small fountain. Joey sat next to me too, his hand a little close to mine that was resting on the seat. A small ping noise told me that he got the small bug attached to the bottom. At the same time, I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check if anyone responded to my message. We were about to get up when an employee was heading over to us. "Oh, did you two want me to take your picture?" She asked, pointing to my periwinkle phone in my hand.

She must have assumed that I was going to try and take a selfie of us or something. Before I could answer, Joey was pulling me into his lap and I had to bite my lip to not squeal. "That'd be great!" He smiled, taking my phone and handing it to the woman.

He was getting himself seated more comfortably while I pretended to fix my hair, "What's with the lap?" I whispered with my teeth clenched, "I thought you just said hand holding?"

"Force of habit?" He answered with a shrug and a laugh.

I had to shake my head, putting on a big smile for the camera. The employee took a couple of pictures, then handed the phone back for me to see. We actually looked like a couple, heads leaned in close and everything. As soon as she was gone, I hopped off and started walking to the next sign.

Joey followed behind after picking up the backpack. When I put a bug on the sign, I decided to start asking questions to get to know him a little better. "Are you in school still?" I asked quietly, holding out my hand near an Orange Sulphur butterfly with the hopes that it would land on it, "I mean…like high school."

"I go most of the time." He answered. We watched the tiny butterfly land on my hand and he was quick to pull out his phone and snap a picture of the moment. "P.S. 146."

The beautiful bug flew off my hand and to a daisy. "I go to 148!" I turned to him with a small smile, "I think we're rivals."

Joey laughed, offering a hand for me to take as we got closer to the exit. We stopped at the life cycle station. "You got a boyfriend?" Frost Junior asked out of the blue, causing my eyes to widen in shock, "Or girlfriend? I don't judge!" He held his hands up defensively.

"No, I don't have a boyfriend." I shook my head, "I've never had a real boyfriend. There was a time in fifth grade when I thought I liked my friend Parker, but we broke it off after he wouldn't share his animal crackers with me at snack time."

I fished a bug out of my pocket and went to place it on the sign. "Um…do you have someone special?" I asked, moving us to the door.

"Yeah I do. Sofia Romano." Joey answered, not sounding too excited about her like I thought someone would be about their significant other. Surprisingly to me, I did feel a little disappointed at his answer, but I didn't know why. "Don't worry, if she knew about this little acting gig we're doing, she'd be cool with it."

Once we left, the final destination was the security room. The small, almost closet sized room was next to the bathrooms and the door was slightly open. From where we were standing, I could see that there were two guys in there, but they were paying more attention to the cards in their hands than the screens.

I turned to the older boy, not really sure how I was going to do this. "Any ideas?" I asked, grabbing the strap of the purse anxiously.

He looked to be in a bit of a deep thought for a minute, eyes closed. "We'll go in there and say that I heard some dude in the bathroom say something about stealing some of the chrysalis or something from the butterfly gardens. They'll go to the bathroom right there, I'll stand guard, and you'll do your thing."

Let's hope it works."

000

I had no idea how that plan actually worked. Joey went in, with me behind him. He told those guards his lie and both of them left the room and ran straight into the men's room. Quickly, I put in the flash-drive and prayed that it would do its magic while I was in there. Thankfully, I got to glance at it before the guards ushered us out, letting us know that they didn't see anything in the bathroom, but they would look over the footage.

During the walk back to his truck, Joey told me that the guards were saying something about the rookies working tonight because there was going to be a bachelor party that the others were going to. I told him he needed to remember to tell the Joker that as soon as we saw him.

We got back to the penthouse a little after four and saw that the Joker's goons were taking over the family room again. I was a little worried about that because I thought about using the huge screen, and maybe other screens, to watch the security cams instead of just on the laptop.

They watched my every movement, which was really just taking off my shoes and waiting for Joey to finish texting. "C'mon, Mr. J's probably up in his office." I said quietly, taking his hand and making him follow me up to the office.

He seemed a little flustered, but was fine once he was off his phone and it was back in his pocket. I let go once we were up the stairs and I knocked on the door, waiting to be called into his office. After a moment of nothing, I tried to see if the door was locked by turning the handle. It turned and I peeped my head in. The Joker was in there alone but on the phone with someone. He must have heard the door open because his head shot up and he made eye contact with me.

With a wave of his hand, he gestured us in and turned around in his swivel chair to face the window. I put a finger to my lips to tell Joey to be quiet before heading inside the office. We both sat down on the leather couch; Joey handed the backpack to me and I took the tablet and laptop out to show Mr. J that the bugs were working.

"And five hours later, they return." The Joker's voice drawled, turning back to us and setting his cell phone down on the desk.

I handed Joey the tablet, ready to move onto the laptop. "We've got a clear layout of where each bug was placed in the museum, sir." Joey said, handing over the tablet to our boss, "Every square inch is on here and every security system can be taken down with a touch of a button." I peered up from the laptop to see the Joker's reaction. It was an impressed one, eyebrow raised and smirk on his face, "Bernie even got into the security cameras Mr. J." He went on, nudging me in the side, "And I heard that the rookies are working tonight."

The Joker set down the tablet, looking at the both of us. "Wow, above and beyond, huh doll?" Mr. J chuckled. My response was a shrug and handing over the laptop to him. "Well then, this changes the plans a bit. I'll have you stay here and watch the cameras then while you give us direct information." That worked for me. I knew that the Joker could be violent if something went wrong, and I'd rather not be in the direct line of that. "Frost Junior here is gonna help you out. More eyes on the prize."

I raised my hand, wanting to ask something before he dismisses us. "Mr. J…it'd be easier to keep an eye on things if there were plenty of screens to use instead of just the laptop."

He leaned back in the chair, putting his arms behind his head. "Ask the boys down there to go out and get as many as you need then." The Joker said after a moment. That made me anxious; those guys wouldn't listen to me, even if it was an order coming straight from their boss. "How many do you need?"

"I think about seven or eight will work." I answered after thinking about it, "If we grab one from the game room and use the one in the family room, we only need five or six more. I-Is that alright?"

The Joker's face turned into a twisted kind of grin and he leaned forward in his chair, "What's the magic word?" He said in a mocking tone of voice. My face got warm and I felt like I was a kindergartener being reminded to use proper manners. "Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty…"

"Please." I said quietly, my ears getting warm too.

The clown laughed, throwing up his arms in a victory sort of way. "Ah, there it is! That's what I like to hear!" He cooed, still laughing. "Joey my boy, help Bernie bring down the TV she needs and set up her things. I want this done quickly."

Joey stood quickly, "Yes sir."

I collected both the tablet and the laptop from the desk and let Joey grab the backpack. We both left in a flash and I showed him where the game room was. He found the TV that I was talking about and I loaded up my backpack again.

Thankfully, Joey was pretty strong and didn't struggle carrying the TV down the stairs. "You can just put it on the coffee table Joey." I told him, standing close to him.

He set it down and went to find where he could plug it in. That's when I turned to the rest of the men in the room to ask them to get the monitors I needed. "Um…excuse me. But Mr. J told me to ask you guys if you could go out and grab some more TV's for me. I'd really appreciate it."

The remote guy and ringleader, who was wearing a rhino mask on top of his head, stood up from his spot on a reclining chair and walked right up to me. His face was only a couple of inches from mine and I could smell garlic on his breath. "Why am I gonna trust you?" He asked, crossing his arms across his chest, "I've got three people I take orders from, and you're not one of them  _cupcake_."

Just like every encounter with the goons, they laughed at me once Rhino was done talking. The man had a smug look on his face and I was ready to give up. But, Joey moved me out of the way and got right into Rhino's face. "Listen up, the Joker wants this done and done fast. So, you can either listen to Bernadette or you can take it up with Mr. J."

There was a tense feeling in the air after that, with the two of them in a stare down. After what felt like hours, the goon turned to the rest of this partners and snapped his fingers, "Well, what are you all standing around for? Let's get this shit done fast." All of them jumped up quickly and were heading to the elevator fast.

Once they were all gone, Joey turned to me and seemed like he was checking me over. "Thanks Joey, you didn't have to do that." I thanked, a sincere smile on my face.

"I've had to do that so many times before it was nothing."

"When have you had to do that before?"

He laughed, flopping down on the couch. "I've got three older brothers. You learn quick to stand up for yourself Bernie."


End file.
